What should i do about my computer protection ?

I,m a first time computer owner and, i got mail stating that my McAfee suite will run out in 7 days(this came free with windows xp)I,m not sure what to do next about security.Will i get a virus when it runs out? should i have something else ready? should i buy or,down load.If either,what to get??

What should i do about my computer protection ?symatec

First of all dump McCrappy (same goes for anyone with Norton or AVG)... it is just a waste of resources (especially McCrappy %26 AVG) and gives a false sense of security...

Then go download Avast (free version) from http://www.avast.com ... give them the info they ask (they will not spam you or give out your info) and download and install... they will e-mail you a license number good for 14 months and when it runs out you request another free license... Avast is resource friendly and does a superior job to any other antivirus program out there.... In the 4 years I have been using, I have got 2 viruses that got by Avast... both times my fault and both times soon as Avast did a system scan it found them so I could remove...

What should i do about my computer protection ?vista

A couple of ideas that I have for you. First of all I always believe that McAffee or any type of virus mitigation suite is totally worth protecting your assets. In order to have good security, you need to consider several layers of security at home. First i would suggest that you protect at the network layer, put a router in front of your PC for a network barricade / firewall, once you get your PC protection, you have the Windows Firewall and or the McAffee Firewall for client protection. On top of this you have McAffee Antivirus for those shady things that might pass the firewall.
AVG anti-virus adaware spyware protection and ZoneAlarm free edition for firewall
There is a totally free anti virus program that you can download whenever you want, called AVG Free Edition and it works great and it updates itself. You also need to download another free program called Spybot S%26D to get rid of your adware/spyware, these 2 programs should be all you need for casual internet use.
buy mcafee's suite
But Nortons Enterprise solution 2006 version. It will cost U around $50...but save U a ton in the long run!
AVG free is excellent!! search for it, and its tottaly free and works, it even detected a virus that norton didn't on my computer.