And so you compared this unusual wintel server...
to the stable Linux environment next door just to make a point.You should be a politician instead of admin. I still stand by my comments that I would look for a new admin.
This server should have been rebuilt from the ground up. I would have completed a fresh install and then do an inplace migration of the user accounts, exchange data and such. (An inplace migration is NOT an upgrade of software versions just a migration of user accounts and exchange data and there fore doesn't carry bad registry infor over or apps etc.)
This would have taken a weekend to do and once completed they would have had little or no maintenance for months on end, similar to the other Windows 2003 installs SBS or not.
Amusing.
In addition why were they allowed to use the server as aworkstation? shouldnt be running spam software or other poorly written programs on the server in the 1st place. Use a workstation for spamming and shareware for crying out loud.