The one thing that I always recommend is a hardware firewall for the home.
Yes, you should still have a software firewall - especially on a laptop that travels and connects to wifi hotspots.
Bear in mind that the frequency of updates is crucial for AV - daily if possible, not so critical for malware (in my experience).
AV (and ideally malware) sweeps should be done daily, and the AV should be running in on-demand mode to scan files as they are opened.
I also recommend that your normal account is NOT an admin - any nasties that get through are NOT able to install themselves if you are just a user (not Power User). But many people find the difficulties of operating windows in this mode outweigh the benefit.
The other thing to use is the thing between your ears! Be sensible about internet use.
SD