I tried the "For a basic idea of the kinds of information your browser is willingly coughing up. Click on this link", and it responded:
"Turn on JS, numbnuts."
Firefox has a plugin called "NoScript" which everyone should be using. It's easy to allow trusted websites with one click and one more level of "defense".
Also, turn off Outlook Express preview(or better yet uninstall it), and use a simple firewall like ZoneAlarm.
Also push Start/RUN, then type in "msconfig" for a list of the processes that start automatically when the computer does. A lot of programs(cough...spyware) such as RealPlayer and Quicktime install "updaters" which run unseen in the background.