C++ is potentially something you'll be using lots of times throughout a lifetime, so it's something I'd be more likely to read up on the details of than, say, a video recorder.

unfortunately it generally happens when it's my stuff he's meddling with.
When configuring another person's "stuff", tiny differences in habits turn into major obstacles and undermine the assumptions that enable you to configure things quickly in your own domain. I think it's pretty common for people to underestimate the difficulty of the task, regardless what type they are.

I'm personally reluctant to ask people for help on such things for this reason. They always end up being confused by something I do "different".