“I am an electronic tech by trade and I do believe the anti virus software actually draws the bad junk to your computer. “
I believe some anti-virus does that, mostly Norton and Mcafee.
Not running something is a poor choice. Numerous legitimate websites have been compromised and will install malware on your PC when you visit them. These are normal shopping sites.
AVG, Comodo, and Avast are good choices and run very light.
I have operated this way for approx. eight years, I have had very few problems, no crashes.