Cannot afford to renew Kaspersky, should I do clean install of OS?

[brngreenlee]

I've had Kaspersky Internet Security for the past year and it's about to expire. Can't afford to renew. Should I try to uninstall it via Kaspersky's Uninstall feature or will I get BSODs once I put new security in place?

Would I be better off doing a clean install of the operating system, then putting new security program in place?

Any recommendations for FREE (not trial) security suites or apps?

Thanks!