Marquette: this is CFB's "hairball" and you won't win. Real world experience pales before arcane possibilities.
Sorry, just one more comment. I've been giving you my real-world experiences. Like I've stated, I've never had downtime with any machine like your husband has. Then again, my computer is vital to my livelihood so I take the necessary steps to make sure I stay gainfully busy.
One recommendation, but I'm not sure how good the product is since Norton bought them, might be to invest in a hard-drive imaging program like Ghost. Your husband can freshly install everything, make an image, and then restore back to that image at any point. I'm sure he's heard of it, but, if not, he might find it to be an excellent time-saver.