exchange server database in dirty shutdown

[hobey19]

cliffs notes: server running server2k3 and exchange 2k3 (sp1 i think) has viruses and no backup. exchange database is in a Dirty Shutdown state, and i know nothing about exchange to get that fixed. need advice on how to proceed

i just started working yesterday for a client who had some random small computer problems (ie printer doesn't print, scanner not working, wireless won't connect, etc). at some point the main server needed to be restated. it is acting as an exchange server, dhcp, as well as a file server. they have another one to handle dns/wins and another that doesn't appear to be doing anything. there is no one who still works for the company that was involved with the initial setup, and no ones knows anything about how it all works.

after the restart, but before the login, it gave an error message (Some Services could not be started). after logging in, i found this to be exchange. i know absolutely nothing about exchange, but after reading around a bit, i found out about eseutil, and i ran a checksum as well as another test that reported it to be in a Dirty Shutdown state.

it was at this point that i found out that they had never done any type of backups (let alone exchange-aware backups, which, from what i read is quite important) and that the server had been riddled with viruses for over a month. eseutil repairs appear to be the only option, but some people say that it can delete data. from my perspective, some but not all data would be better than no data, and since they don't have a backup, i don't feel too bad. however, since i don't know anything about exchange, i recommended he contact someone who did (which he put on me to find, which isn't going to happen since i am not in my home town. i am going to make some calls today, but who knows how that will go).

i wanted to see if anyone could offer some advice in the mean time. i don't want to make the problem worse if its repairable, but from the checksum results, it looks pretty bad.

thanks in advance
craig

edit: i just remembered that all the users can get into outlook. is there any way for me to back up their messages in there, wipe the DB and import them back in? again, i know nothing about exchange, but i have backed up using pst files before when exchange wasn't part of the picture, so i figured i would see if that was possible. thanks