I've had problems with avg in the past, and found that avast also works quite well and is not nearly as bloated as some of the (not necessarily free) software out there. You have to put up with registering for the home edition but it's a free registration.\n\nAs far as firewalls go, I'd say don't even mess with it. Software firewalls are annoying and cumbersome, and very hard to find for free. If you really want a firewall, though I realize it's not free, buy a router (the nature of many-to-one nat or PAT used in most home routers makes them very secure) \n\nAlternatively, if you're feeling up to a challenge and have an old junked pc lying around that still runs check out smoothwall www.smoothwall.org free to download and install and a good learning experience