Windows 2000 may have emerged a loser in the trade-off between automation and total operability, as experts struggle to shield Microsoft's latest operating system from the Love Bug.
According to Richard Baldry, the local MD for UK-based virus software company Sophos, Microsoft's latest operating system is so automated, it may be impossible to dismantle the script-enabling function which allows the insidious Love Bug to infest the user's PC.
The worm, known as VBS.LoveLetter.A, overwrites graphic files with script, and is spread via the recipient's address book in Microsoft Outlook.
Baldry said his company had already prescribed "fixes" for stopping the spread of the virus, involving the simple disabling of a non-critical scripting function in Windows 98.
However, he explained that the scripting function was entirely automated in Internet Explorer 5, which is bundled into Windows 2000, leaving the end user effectively powerless to prevent the virus from entering their system via the internet.
Neither Sophos, nor any of the antivirus vendor's competitors, had been able to create a "generic fix" for PCs that are operating Windows 2000, Baldry said. "I suspect it won't be possible."
Microsoft was not available for comment.
