Required Software

[sunnycalifornia]

I'm reformatting my laptop over Thanksgiving break and I want to know what you guys think are required software to have.

1. Antivirus (I use Norton 2007 right now but I think it is really slowing down my computer so any alternatives? Is free antivirus really as dependable as ones you pay for?)
2. Firewall (ZoneAlarm is the consensus right?)
3. Windows Defender / Lavasoft Ad-Aware / Spybot Search and Destroy (make it so none of these start at startup)
4. I would like some kind of utilities program, suggestions?

Any other advice appreciated