it must be pointed out at this point that not every pc user must be a techie in order to use the internet, or pass some exam before access is granted.

Giving someone a hard time for lack of knowledge is unfair.

That's a good point. And I hope I wouldn't do such a thing; I hope I wouldn't give a hard time to somebody who didn't know about Windows Update, for instance. But I don't think that's what's going on in this particular case: I still maintain that knowing what Windows Update does and yet deliberately turning it off is irresponsible, especially if accompanied by an attitude that says "I'm not interested in hearing about the havoc an infected PC could cause to other people on the Internet, because my own personal data is backed up and would be unaffected."

Peter