New Security Software Help

Hi
I have just upgraded to Windows 7 from vista due to a virus problems I could not get rid of.
What is the best software out there to protect my computer? I basically need help with antivirus, registry, malware, spyware, tune ups and cleaners.
Thanks

Don't really need the cleaners so much with 7.
I don't have a personal favorite package. From my experience here I can tell you which ones people seem to have the fewest problems with.
ESET
Kapersky
MSE - is free - Virus, Spyware & Malware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials
At the very least I would grab it up in the meantime while you're trying to figure it out.

Hi, sooty1893.

The suggestions by Maguscreed for antivirus software are good. Make sure you have the Windows 7 Firewall turned on, select an anti-malware software such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware or SUPERAntiSpyware.

Forget the registry cleaner. They cause more damage than anything else. In addition to Windows 7 being much more efficient at managing the registry than previous Windows versions, Windows is a closed source system. Developers of registry cleaners do not have the core code of Windows 7 and are not working on definitive information, but rather they are going on past knowledge and experience. Automatic cleaners will usually have to do some guesswork.

Modifying registry keys incorrectly can cause Windows instability, or make Windows unbootable. No registry cleaner is completely safe and the potential is ever present to cause more problems than they claim to fix. Registry cleaners cannot distinguish between good and bad. If you run a registry cleaner, it will delete all those keys which are obsolete and sitting idle; but in reality, those keys may well be needed by some programs or windows at a later time.

While security software certainly helps; however, there are other steps that you can take to help preventing infection. Other than the "standard" be careful with emails and browsing the web, don't run your PC with local admin privilege. Have a standard user account and use "run as" with different password, if privileged account is needed.

I prefer Vipre for A/V and also have Winpatrol to protect against system modification. My primary browser is Firefox, albeit I do like IE 9.0 better. Firefox has more granular security management and pretty good security extension tools.

Ghostery removes hidden scripts for web pages that is intended to track end user activities; more less a privacy protection plugin...

BetterPrivacy manages LSO cookies, or mine case, deletes them when Firefox is closing. Since the location of the LSO cookies cannot be changed and both IE and Firfox uses the same path, it actually deletes LSO cookies generated by IE as well.

Website are using the LSO or flash cookie more and more. One of the reason is that you cannot easily delete it and the size of this cookie is anywhere from 20-50 greater than standard text based cookies. My favored online store, where I purchase computer parts, started to use them as well. Five minutes of browsing and they have created eight LSO cookies. I don't like it but I like the store and as long as these cookies deleted, that's fine...

And yes, I do use CCleaner for years without any issues and it does have its purpose. Most software installation leaves junk in the registry, some more than others. Windows 7, while pretty good at managing the registry it is pretty much useless to remove leftover entries. Orphaned entries can and will slow down Windows, especially and start up and shutdown time...