server 2003 access denied errors

Having an issue in server 2003 and I can't figure it out.

All our sites have been receiving access or permission denied errors when trying to send mail with either cdo or cdonts.

the other issue is the when I try to access the c:\inetpub folder I get "c:\inetpub is not accessible access is denied".

however I can reach the mailroot to check permission if I type in the direct path, such as c:\inetpub\mailroot.

Even when I change permissions here nothing seems to change for sending the mail.

any ideas?

lockeff6