Internet Browser and E-mail
I highly advise that you use Firefox for your browser and Thunderbird for your e-mail application. You may download both here, and they are FREE. I advise that you don't install any extras or toolbars in the process of installing them. Be sure to choose the downloads for Windows.
I advise that you be very careful about installing extensions, add-ons, or plug-ins to either Firefox or Thunderbird that are not recommended in this article. Fully investigate them first. Some add-ons may actually be spyware or have a spyware component, or they may cause Firefox or Thunderbird to become unstable, or cause some other kind of problem with other programs that you run on your computer, or cause a security venerability that could be exploited.