I can't give you an answer you would like for why he wants to do it that way. Suffice it to say he is a man challanged by anything that is not a shortcut on his desktop.

That said, I have taken the advice of ignoring WINS and DHCP since I can find no record of an IP conflict in Event logs. I have however found his wired MAC address floating in IPX RIP packets that seem to be generated by an old Netware programs he never removed.

Otherwise, I have no clue. Taking his system offline produces no Ping to the offending IP address. My Dhcp tables dont show it when it goes. nMap wont find it when the laptop is taken off line and a number of testers will laso not pick up anything on the IP WHEN the laptop is taken offline. This is why I am assuming it was WINS or something stupid where the MAc or Netbios was entered twice.
That being said I am at my wits end and ready to kill this guy. And I am not sure where to go next with this.

Thats the story so far, I'll update as i learn more. thanks!