Security software for a non-technical user

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Ok guys, a little poser of a problem so please post your ideas/suggestions !

Scenario :

Aging friend of mine in his 60's struggles with his computer (took me about 10 hrs of training just to get him to write and print a simple letter from Word).

He has a Win98SE machine I sold him a few years back and he is an extensive Ebay user (deals in antique cigarette lighters). He also struggles with uploading photos from his camera to the pc.

He has loads of friends that send him the usual amusing emails (you know, the ones that carry Trojans etc) and probably also views some "adult" material occassionally.

I have never seen a machine get hit with so many viruses, spyware etc. I have AVG free on there for him and Sunbelt's CounterSpy. Had to remove Zone Alarm as he was unable to cope with the messages it flashed up and if I clamped the security down then he moaned he couldn't get on some sites.

Have been out last week and removed viruses again and tidied the machine up as much as possible but he is still having problems.

I have tried to explain that a new machine (prob from Dell outlet store to keep cost down) will have a more secure o/s but that he will still need some programs to protect him and that he will need to understand the basics of how the programs work and how to use them.

So, my question to you fellow experts is .... what security progs would you recommend that are :

a) free or cheap

b) provide really good protection, and

c) are really easy for a novice who doesn't really want to learn, to operate ?

Any ideas folks ?

 

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Antivirus - AVG
Firewall - zonealarm

Both free and, if he can't or won't use either of them, then tough - there aren't any easier security products to use than those.

I presume he's already got a cable/DSL router? Otherwise you're fighting a losing battle anyway...

Though to be honest, with a 9x box you're wasting your time imnsho.

Best advice you can give him is what I give all my home/home office install customers:

Stop looking at porn on the internet

 

Yup, done that and yes, D-Link.

I know, it's really tough to get it across to people sometimes. He's trying to get me to say that if he gets a new machine with Vista all will be ok and I've said it doesn't work like that. A little knowledge is required.

Ho-hum, I can see my patience being really tried over the next few days/weeks

 

You gotta get rid of the 9x OS. Vista or even XP will be far more resistant to malware infection than Win98. I agree with AVG and Zone Alarm, I would also spend a few quid on Spysweeper. The router is a good line of defence, also change the browser to IE7 or Firefox.