There’s some nice companies out there which gives away free versions of useful software for home users.  Here’s some links to them.  Make sure you know what you’re doing before installing software - if you have any worries or queries, please feel free to contact us.

Anti Virus Software

AVG is a virus killer from a company called GriSoft, they do commercial products, but they also do a free version for home users - you can go to their site by clicking on this link.

Firewall Software

Windows XP has a built-in firewall, but this only blocks outgoing connections, there’s a firewall called ZoneAlarm from a company called ZoneLabs which blocks both incoming and outgoing connections - you can go to their site by clicking on this link.