If not, you should.
Some things you should consider:
- Anti-virus keeps harmful code and software off your computer.
- A firewall prevents harmful code and software from entering or exiting your system. A firewall can also keep "nosey" software at bay, not let it "call home" and waste your computer resources or Internet bandwidth. Nor spy on you.
- Spyware and adware removers are good. These things slow a computer up, and can corrupt your system and software. Almost as bad as a virus.
Here's a number of COMPLETELY FREE softwares.
ANTI-VIRUS: AVG Free Edition Anti-Virus
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
FIREWALL: Kerio Personal Firewall
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html
SPYWARE REMOVER: Spyboy Search & Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
NOTE! Be sure to install the TEATIMER S&D Resident blocker.
SPYWARE REMOVER: Ad-Aware SE Personal
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
NOTE: It's a good idea to run both Ad-Aware AND Spybot!
I run a clean system. I don't have odd things going on. I don't have random crashes. Things run really fast. This is how I do it. It makes your life a lot easier, whether you're burning DVDs, editing video, or searching the Internet for shows... or whatever else you do on the computer.