Windows may come with its own (decent) firewall and malware detector (Defender), but you're not safe unless you a)never go online, b)employ up-to-date anti-virus. For my own Windows 7 pcs, I've had great results and minimal bother from ESET NOD32 for Anti-virus & the ESET Smart Security for its firewall.
I chose ESET because it has a pretty small memory footprint, allowing me to get the most out of my machine, specifically because ESET knows when I'm gaming and tries not to bother me. There are a lot of other things to consider when you choose anti-virus, however, not the least of which is price.
AVG free and Avast are two of the highest rated free anti-virus programs out there, so if you're on a budget, or you need a subscription for that laptop/old/backup PC you bust out every once in a while, consider these.
I could rave about ESET and rant about McAfee all day, but I'd like to highlight a website I've found in my search for the perfect AV software. AV-Comparatives is "an Austrian Non-Profit-Organization, which is providing independent Anti-Virus software tests free to the public." Don't let the broken English scare you away; They've got PDF reports on detection rates, false positives, performance statistics, etc, written concisely with explanations for laymen along the way.
If you were thinking about only going to the internet's most visited sites and hoping to come out unscathed, remember that Facebook messages, YouTube comments, and certainly Yahoo emails can all contain malware, trackers, and viruses. If budget is the issue, check out AVGFree and Avast. If indecision is your issue, spend a few minutes on AV-Comparatives. Whatever you do, don't go without!
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