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I want "safe mode" to include a video driver that supports 800x600,1024x768, and 1600x1200 at 16 bit color.

I do not know if Windows lets you change the resolution/bit depth in safe mode, but the driver supports VESA resolutions.

Heck, I'd want "safe mode" now to include internet support for downloading drivers and such.

Safe Mode has supported network access since at least Windows 2000.

I want a tech logon that doesn't give the tech access to anything other than desktop, start menu, control panel, and what apps get loaded of the users. The best buy tech or random computer tech doesn't need access to Joe Users my documents and his entire family's documents to trouble shoot his computer.

Then create an account that does so. Or would you prefer there to be a universal backdoor account?

If a technichian wanted to see unencrypted documents, a separate account won't stop him from getting them.

I'd actually like the tech logon to be able to apply default profile setup over an existing user to fix most of those minor users glitches.

You mean like renaming a user's profile folder (so a new one gets generated,) then copying the user's documents to a new profile folder? Something that would either require a tech to have access to those files, or would be automated? (And if it was automated, why wouldn't the end user be able to do it?)

I want that tech log in logged and the admin user to see a nice readable list of what the tech did/didn't do.

How would this be useful to anyone who can't fix the system him or herself?

Wouldn't anyone who cares enough about this just install a proper screen/activity recording tool?

If this was prevalent, wouldn't techs anticipate it and do anything malicious without booting the operating system?

I want this utility http://www.tgrmn.com/ [tgrmn.com] to be be bought and made part of the base system

This seems like a niche application - way more advanced than what most users care about.

and a defrag service that is trivial to set and forget about.

Windows XP does limited defragmentation of the files used to boot the system. Windows Vista includes background defragmentation.

I want "safe mode" to include a video driver that supports 800x600,1024x768, and 1600x1200 at 16 bit color.

Heck, I'd want "safe mode" now to include internet support for downloading drivers and such.

I want a tech logon that doesn't give the tech access to anything other than desktop, start menu, control panel, and what apps get loaded of the users. The best buy tech or random computer tech doesn't need access to Joe Users my documents and his entire family's documents to trouble shoot his computer.

I'd actually like the tech logon to be able to apply default profile setup over an existing user to fix most of those minor users glitches. I want that tech log in logged and the admin user to see a nice readable list of what the tech did/didn't do.

I want this utility http://www.tgrmn.com/ to be be bought and made part of the base system and a defrag service that is trivial to set and forget about.

For my setup I am using a desktop as the server and a laptop as a runner. I have a direct hardwire connection between the two machines and a wireless connection to the internet. I can perform a sync of 15GB of files with ~500MB of changes between the files in ~3mins. (It take ~2.5 mins to scan the laptop for file changes, and ~30s to transfer the data. The 1Gbit connection is great!) I perform most of my work on the desktop, and simply unplug the laptop when I hit the road. When I return, I plug the laptop back in and the desktop will automatically sync things with in about 30 mins (which is simply dependant on how I setup my scheduler). If I am in a hurry to transfer the files I can manully initiate the sync, and 3mins later I have everything.

The only improvement that I would like is to have the apps run in the background on both machines and keep track of the file changes in real time; so, that the app does not need to spend 2.5mins figuring out what needs to be transferred when it is time to sync. Let me know if you know of an app that can do this.

Once a day, it runs a backup of my laptop and everything on my machine comes to a grinding halt for five to ten minutes.

A solution is not a solution if it doesn't get used. We have only 5 guys with laptops, but some are smart enough that they can cause trouble. I was using a network backup to tape drive, but these guys could go into their Windows task manager and kill the process, 'cause they didn't like the way the backups bogged down their performance. Since I had a solution in place, my ass was covered, and they were on the hook for any problems if we didn't have a current backup. Still, a laptop loss or hard disk failure will cause me a lot of headaches, whether or not it's my fault.

So the second option I implemented was external hard drives for all laptop users. They can back up their own stuff, whenever is convenient for them. Yet they are kinda lazy and very busy with other stuff, so I've been hearing rumors that some laptops are only getting backed up once a week. Or worse. With the external drives in the users hands, I can't keep any track of what is going on. Once again, my ass is covered, but a disaster will still be a headache for me.

What my guys need is something with logs that I can see, and will back up their laptops to a server, but will give them some scheduling control so as not to interfere with their work. The compromise we are working towards is some file synchronization software. Something that has scheduling capability, but can also be initiated by the user. When they are VPN'ed in, or in the office and connected to the network, and they are going to lunch or heading to a meeting, they can click an icon on the desktop to set off the file transfer. I can see a log on the server and know who hasn't been backing up in a while, and send a reminder email, or even automate the email reminders.

This idea is promising, but I'm wondering what new problem will crop up with it. I'm looking at Vice Versa and SyncBac , for the software, which both have nice features. I'm going to check out BackupPC after seeing it mentioned in this thread.

The functionality seems good, but that's the most ugly and inconsistent UI I've seen in a long time! Check out the screenshots page for at least 3 or 4 different styles of buttons and colour schemes. If they could polish the UI to make everything consistent, and perhaps use a manifest to use the XP theme, it could be very nice indeed. As it stands it looks like something my boss would knock up in VB as a prototype. *shudders*

this one is mine.
I use vice versa pro
http://www.tgrmn.com/ disclaimer, I'm just a customer

It lets me sync files across different directories.. and if it finds changes, it has an option to archive a copy of what was there before in a third directory, with a date/time stamp.

you can set it to retain X# of copies, or for x# of days.. I have it set to automatically run on any change in the
mydocs folder on my pc at work, or my pc at home.. if I open a file at home and modify it, I can rest easy knowing the chages will be there on my work pc the next day, and if I screw up, I can go to the archives...

I can set the bandwidth limit so as to not drown out my point to point connection (the work connection is commercial account cable modem, and also supplies my workplace website)

a combination of webdrive http://www.webdrive.com/
(to mount dreamhost like a drive letter)
and vice versa pro http://www.tgrmn.com/

vvp encryption on the dreamhost side only...

works VERY well with one exception, webdrive uses 100% of my uplink, 100-120 kb/s not option to throttle it down.
my temp workaround is that I have VVP set to a max of 30kb/s which means it's slower than the uploads, it releases my bandwidth time to slices of 1/3 available time.

I really need a way to throttle webdrive on it's own.

If you're in an MS-Windows environment, have you seen ViceVersa? http://www.tgrmn.com/ It may solve some of what you;re talking about.