That is reckless .The only way you would be secure to do that is use a sandboxed browser.

Use the B&B address. It sucks because when I get a code via email I have to go down, write it on paper, and then bring it up here, log on and enter it. :D

What is this "paper" you're talking about? Some kind of portable computer?

I like living in the edge... sometimes i even turn off the firewall... oh yeah....

Avast free and Windows firewall. All i've ever used and never had any issues.

I would go with free. All I use is the online armour free firewall and miscrosoft security essentials with the occasional blast of Malwarebytes.

On a home PC that has all the stuff you wouldn't like to lose backed up somewhere, there is no need whatsoever to pay.

There are plenty of experts/ongoing debates that claim that paid for anti-virus are a waste of money anyway. Sure they will catch known viruses but they are not as heuristic as they like to claim and a major new virus in the wild will get through them anyway.

This and Malwarebytes.

It's a demonic tool of the gods.

There is this story, from when Spain conquered Philipines I believe, where a foreign invader sent a local with something, let's say 12 apples, and a foreign object made of this "paper" that was apparently called "letter". The local delivered the apples, but ate a couple on the way; and was then accused of having eaten two of them. "That is not true!", claimed the local. "It is true, the paper says so. You were given 12; where are the rest otherwise?" The local had no choice but to take the blame. Later, he was asked to do a similar delivery, and was again accused of having eaten part of the merchandise. "Lies!", he claimed again. "No, the paper says so", was the reply. But this time, he was prepared. "Lies! The paper knows nothing, I put it under a rock while I was eating!"

As you can see, paper is basically the echelon system v0.2

Not as reckless as it may sound:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/port-religious-sites-riskier_n_1471175.html

I have been using GDATA Internet Security for years now and am very satisfied with it. It scans stuff before opening/downloading, an experience I don't have with some of the free products. On top of that I have a registered version of Malware Bytes Anti-Malware.
The combination works great.

Not having java client software installed, having flash disabled and not using risky and frequently used programs like Internet Explorer and Adobe Acrobat Reader helps to significantly reduce the risk of a malware infection.

Pay

No Linux user in this thread yet? :P

NO, they have no clue about virus, since they dont get any

Even with that ,you still need deep scan programs..

Malwarebytes like others have said. What AV you use it up to you, but most free av works fine.

I also personally recommend utilizing NoScript. Very useful security tool.

Not entirely right, I've heard of some Debian rootkits but never encountered something like this in real life and even if I would, I've got Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 which is a small bootable Linux Live Distro with Kaspersky installed and able to check everything including all boot sectors, it's free on their site.