If you decide to avoid torrents, you can easily get by without anti-virus software.
(As I don't use torrents, I can't recommend which ones do that.) You will also need to run good anti-virus software, such as Sophos. Download all kinds of files: movies, music, videos, shows, games and any sort of. First, only use a torrent that supports checksums of downloaded content, which can be compared to a checksum of the original file to verify that it hasn't been tampered with. Run torrent client with BitTorrent Proxy Download test torrent file. If you insist on using torrents for legitimate purposes, you need to protect yourself.
Neither should you download something illegal from a complete stranger, as it may be dangerous. Would you take a pill given to you by a complete stranger in a bad part of town? No. Most often, torrents are simply a source for illegal material, and you really don't want to trust people who are stealing music, movies and software. I would advise not to use torrents at all. That's not often easy to identify with torrents, which are designed to allow you to download from complete and total strangers. Whether a torrent is safe depends greatly on what you're downloading and from whom.
