beign a power user, I turn off the automatic update because there is one time vista automatically installed a chip set patch and rebooted my computer and it end up in a repeat reboot status which MS support cannot fix and I end up has to reinstall the whole O/S plus softwares.
I do the update only after I checks the update are needed....
Even symantec internet security auto update once a while updates to a bad patch ...you end up with a problem...

As for virus protection and fire wall, it should be always on...but you should open up specific port rather than turning off whole firewall just to play internet game.....
As for file sharing....I got a laptop that has vista that I think something is messed up on that laptop...no wonder what setting I change...just can't get it to be seen on local network unless firewall is turned off......And I mean I tried everything....

I have my Firewall for my house but I kill it for my PC. I also only run virus scan once a week or so. I do update however. I've never had a virus or Trojan on my PC mainly because the only shady site I visit is TG Daily.

An easy formula to remember is, don't surf for porn and don't try to get illegal copies of software and you typically don't need any of this stuff.

I patch regularly, but I turn off all the security stuff. I have a high quality router with all the bells and whistles turned on - I don;t need an additional layer of protection. At work I am behind like 15 firewalls so the windows security ain't going to stop them if they got that far.

Call me paranoid, but I have TWO hardware firewalls (DSL modem and Router), and all my PCs (networked) have the best Software firewall I can find (Sunbelt), plus Anti-virus (AVG free), and 3 different anti-spyware apps running (AVG8 free, Spyware Doctor free, Spyware Blaster). The Anti-virus and anti-spyware apps scan every day. I use only Firefox, with NoScipt, and I have the security measures tightened down as far as they'll go. I'm also a cheap-skate as all my apps are free.

I run a Wi-fi network, and I run WPA security, with frequent re-key rates, a nasty-long passkey, and MAC address filtering.

I do MOST windows updates. I have it so I'm notified before they download, and there are only a few I skip, and that's due to reported compatibility problems. Each time I reinstall WinXP (which is every 12 months or so), I create a Slip-stream version with all the latest updates, so they're in there from the beginning.

Of course most people don't patch! Sure, they usually block hacking means or malicious software, but even still patching doesn't help enough to counter the cost... I've installed "patches" that made XP as slow as a gumball -- the one that was supposed to protect Office. I had to REINSTALL Windows to get everything completely normal again, and a system restore before the computer was even usable. I stopped installing patches after I heard that an update to Windows Updater can allow Microsoft to install updates or change files without your knowing. For my Mac and Linux machines, I feel perfectly safe installing patches, since in those cases it always helps, nothing is installed without my knowledge, and it never screws up the computer. By the way, in XP I keep the Windows firewall off. Although, I do have good security means -- I have a fully active Trend Micro Internet Security to protect against viruses and hacks, not to mention a hardware firewall.

Hardware is really cheap nowadays. Either at work or at home, I never allow any update (except antivirus), but that's because there are 2 separate (and I mean physically separate, at least at work) networks, one for the internet and external word communication, and one for the internal database and work computers. That means that if an infection gets through the basic hardware firewall of my router, I just restore from ghost. And with all the free software around, it's really a shame to pay for MS stuff. Plus, most of the external network (internet) is with used pcs that are old enough to be thrown away (or replaced, which they are, because they once were 'work' computers).

Power users don't need to be slaves to M$ updates and the Windows Firewall. There are already multiple posts here describing different methods experts use. With your average joe moron I always tell them keep automatic updates on for EVERYTHING. Those people don't have the knowledge necessary to prevent threats so they need to be babied by Microsoft. Power users can take care of themselves.

As for file sharing and games, power users should know how to open ports for file sharing and gaming. It's not hard and many games give adequate instructions.

Some of you commenters are really ignorant. "I don't need any kind of protection because I already have it!" That's like my customers who come in with their computers and I tell them their problem is malware, and the give me this blank look, and get all indignant, "well that's just not possible, I have TEH NORTANS." And it takes ten more minutes out of my day to explain everything, how not every 0-day exploit is covered, how your antivirus software comes with a limitation of liability notice in tiny print, and so on.

And just because you've got a hardware firewall doesn't mean nothing can touch you, either. Who says that a new free animated cursor package can't come out, and you can't download it and run it and end up having some buffer overflow exploited, it elevates its permissions, calls home, etc? Maybe it even uses port 80 and looks just like HTTP traffic, and your firewall does NOTHING.

Whining about updates slowing down your machine? You've either got a genuine compatibility problem (not likely), an outdated machine (very likely), or are just plain doing it wrong. (I bet some people will downvote this post because they can't conceive of any instance in which they could mess up.)

Here's a solution for you large-organization types: Locally managed update server, looked after by your organization's IT guys, who know that every box on your network is cloned, should all be working the same way, and that what works for one will work for the other. That way, your IT guys can verify every update, install it, make sure everything is OK, and then put it on the update server. I bet a lot of people who STILL turn their updates off in large organizations have exactly this setup but don't even know it.

Why waste your time with every security element known to man when I could just restore my whole system in a couple hours? If you don't do backups, you're asking to lose your data. I wouldn't call myself the typical Windows user, so I don't need a babysitter for my hardware. I also don't allow MS automatic updates because I'll be the one deciding when I want my bandwidth eaten up, not MS. I don't test software for MS for free, I let other people do that(early adopters, you know who you are). I look at MS software like a new model of car; don't buy it in the first year it's out. All the problems will surface then and it takes them about a year to fix them. With this philosophy, I don't experience BSOD spontaneous reboots from incompatible BIOS', etc. Each generation of Windows removes a little bit more control from the person who owns the hardware; when it gets to the point that it thinks it knows better than I do about how to run my hardware, I won't be using it. I do run antivirus software, but I don't pay for it (unless I'm going to use it to repair others' systems) and I've never had a virus in 11 years of Internet use. How? I have never used a file sharing service...