Often, people read off lists of applications that they have installed on their hard drives in an effort to keep their computer safe and secure. Below, is a list of the bare minimum security applications that you must have (in my opinion) and use to keep your hard drive virus/spyware free.
1. One anti-virus application such as: AVG, Avast, Norton, McAfee
2. 3 spyware scanners: Adaware SE, Spybot Search and Destroy and CWShredder are my recommendations and can be downloaded for free at the "Virus Information" page. There are many other very useful scanners out there other than the three I have listed, but have 3 downloaded, keep them updated and use them regularly.
3. Currently, I recommend using Firefox Mozilla as your primary browser. It is much more secure than Internet Explorer. Learn more about Mozilla here.
4. Use a firewall and keep it up to date at all times. Some free firewalls that are excellent recommendations are: (notice XP's firewall is not on the list)
* ZoneAlarm
* Sygate
* Kerio
* Secure Point
* Filseclab