there are several types of programs one needs for a high level of security these days. One is a virus checker, like Norton, AVG, McAfee..etc... one is a cookie control agent, which can be stand-alone or part of certain browsers(Mozilla and Opera have them built in) ....or part of other programs like firewalls, which it is a good idea to have also. Good 'free' firewalls are things like Kerio, ZoneAlarm, or Outpost.

Those 3 things will do most of the work to prevent 'stuff' from getting on you computer and doing nasty things...but WinPatrol does a 'different' sort of thing, as does AdAware & SpyBot S&D, which find stuff that gets through....
..and there is one other which does tricks to make general web-surfing smoother and cleaner...like preventing re-directs to sites you didn't ask for, stopping pop-ups, preventing 'text scrolling' in the status bar, freezing GIF animations, controlling javascripts and ad banners and MUCH more..etc. This is The Proxomitron...I simply would not surf without it any more. (It has been mentioned before.) It is so powerful that, if you get & enable all the filters available for it, almost nothing would happen when you surf! Well, maybe plain text would show...

It IS the case that programs like WinPatrol, Proxomitron, and firewalls need to be taught YOUR rules and wishes, and need some care to set up like you wish, but after awhile, you almost forget they are there..(WinPatrol is no use if it DOESN'T ask you about certain things, and you can tell it which programs you trust and want to run!)(and you 'can' turn off the *bark*)

It is unfortunate that we need all this, just as it is sad we need to lock our doors and have anti-theft devices in our cars, but that is how it is. It is best to learn how these security trick and devices work BEFORE something bad happens, even though some of them can be confusing till you get the adjustments made.

If you go to that Pricelessware page I noted above, you'll see better write-ups than I give here...and if you'd to see several more security programs that were suggested, instead of just the top vote getters, go here...some interesting stuff, though not what 'everyone' needs.