Programs such as Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam and Anti-Spyware of commercial quality
or better can be found for free online quite easily: Windows programs are
listed in the software section below. (Usually these are not needed for non-
Windows OSes)
Security software is important and should be set up first. The best procedure
is not to connect to the internet at all until your choice of anti-virus, anti-spyware
and firewall software is installed and activated, then connect to the internet and
update each of these programs.
If you are using software that must be downloaded from the internet for this
purpose, you can use another computer to download and burn the installation
files to a CD or thumb drive. If this is not possible, download, install and update
your anti-virus solution of choice first, disconnect from the internet and run a
complete system scan. Then you can reconnect and install your other security
software and be reasonably confident that you are not infected.
Once secured, your system should be safe for prudent internet browsing,
remember to schedule regular scans and keep your security software up to date.