surely prevention is better than then trying to bolt the door after?

i am certainly no computer expert and the majority of you probably know much more than me as ive only been online for 4 years, but most topics i see online of av, when surely is better to get a good firewall? is cheaper and much more reliable as you control what is let into your system and there are masses of free av and malware removers if the worst happens? i like to use my own firewall setting on prompt then give my permissions, not then have to pay for a mistake of a security system.

 

Prevention is always better. For that reason I run a default-deny security policy. IMO, there's just too much malicious code using way too many methods to avoid detection to trust an AV as a primary defense. When you say "firewall", I'm assuming that you're referring to a combined security suite that monitors processes. These can be very effective tools, but they're only as good as the security policy they're enforcing. What truly protects you is your security policy, your ability to adhere to it, and your ability to configure your apps and system to enforce it. Security packages would be a lot more effective if more people treated them as enforcement tools instead of viewing them as the source of their security.