Mozilla Firefox
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Firefox is, in my opinion, currently the best browser. And it's opensource!
I'm convinced that most problems on a windows computer come from Internet Explorer. I can't think of any good reason to use IE.
Try Firefox.
Other programs I use, all are free:
AVG Antivirus - free for personal use
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
AdAware (adware cleaner):
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ (use the free version)
AND/OR
SpyBot S&D:
http://www.safer-networking.org/
SpyBot is probably better.
Zone Alarm (firewall):
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conten...id=zadb_zadown