few things 1. Autoruns from sysinternals(free) is better than msconfig. in addition to disabling startup programs, you can also disabled explorer extensions etc ps: new version 8.5 http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/autoruns.html 2. Ewido is not only good at detecting spyware but also trojans key loggers etc http://www.ewido.net/en/ its free and has offline updates too 3. As far as antivirus is concerned. any antivirus is better than no anti virus. The chances of getting a virus even with crappy antivirus is way smaller. It is a must have especially when you connect to the network/internet. The latest av-comparitve test showed free ones are almost as good as the payed products. kav 2006 might be another one to watch out for. 4. firewall: someone here posted a guide here about winpooch. you just cant get lighter than that.