I have bought a new computer.
What is the
best way to protect my computer from viruses, spam, firewall and other infection with
free software,
thank you in advance
Install a Linux distro and use it to browse the web. That will give you leagues better protection that any program on windows will (only accounting for free up to the hundred dollar level).
Otherwise, if you want to use windows, follow the others suggestions for programs. As far as what else you can do:
-Do not open emails from people you do not know, or that look suspicious in any way.
-Do not Torrent at all (unless it is a freeware, like crunchbang or some of the other Linuxes that are distributed via p2p).
-Do not download programs that promise to improve your computer in any way.
-Do not download programs from sites that do not have a valid security tags (in chrome you can click on the globe and it will tell you).
-Limit visits to adult websites, and don't click the links that arent for the videos (for your health along with your computers).
Run a malewarebytes full scan about once a week, or anytime you install something new, or see your computer start acting strangely. Also, monitor your RAM usage (windows sidebar has an app for this). If it suddenly starts rising, or remains above normal after closing a program, then run a scan.