An Internet worm targeting Microsoft Windows users was spreading rapidly around the world on Tuesday, triggering computer crashes and slowing Web connections, experts said. The worm, dubbed Blaster but also known as LoveSan or MSBlaster, carried a message for the Microsoft chairman: "Billy Gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!!" Blaster, which zeroes in on Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating software, has been timed to attack a Microsoft security Web site distributing the patch needed to stop the worm in its tracks before it hits millions of users. The worm specifically targets the latest versions of the Windows software and experts predict home users will be the worst affected. The vast majority of the world's computers are equipped with one form or other of Windows software. Blaster is fairly unusual in that it does not spread specifically via e-mail as it can travel through a normal Internet connection. Security experts advised computer users to visit Microsoft's security page to download the patch. The author has programmed the worm to knock the site offline on August 16, the experts said. Following a quick patch job, many corporate systems were back up and running without a hitch. But as the greatest damage was expected to be in the home market, the actual toll of Blaster might be difficult to determine, the experts said. Once Blaster infects a computer, it scans the Internet for other vulnerable machines to attack. In some cases the worm causes the computer to crash, but does not infect it, said Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer at the Internet Storm Center at the SANS Institute in the United States. Kinex technicians have written a CD that will delete the worm from the infected computer and add the Microsoft patch to prevent future exploits by the worm.