Essential Software 2008
If you wanted to make you PC safe, what would you need? To be fair, the biggest vulnerability of your PC is you. Assuming we can't do too much about that, how could we reduce the risk of you picking up problems.

Here are 9 things to make you safe in 2008.

Spybot Search & Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Spyware Blaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html

Rogue Remover
http://www.malwarebytes.org/rogueremover.php

Ad-Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Virus Scanner
AVG is Simple, easy to use, always updates itself and free for home use. No more dodgy downloads.

Spyware Scanner
Spyware Terminator blocks untrusted programs from running and keeps an eye out for anything that tries to get access to your PC without your knowledge.

Spam Detector
Chat to your ISP first as this is the simplest way, if you rate yourself an average user try xTerminator.

Web Protector
McAfee Site Advisor will alert you before visiting a site that has proven to be untrustworthy.

Registry Cleaner
You should be safe with the above installed, but it is also good to give your registry a clean now and then, try Easy Cleaner.