Required Field Indication - HOW??

I am in the middle of a debate on how required fields should be indicated on a GUI form. We are trying to follow commercial best practices and using the Microsoft Windows standard, but it seems that this issue is always danced around. Our users want some indication of which field require entry and which are optional. We suggest highlighting a field after trying to commit, if it is not filled out and placing focus on the field, but we're not entirely satisfied with this because of multiple required fields which may not be filled in. Users are asking for bolding the labels or highlighting the field in a different way or even using color. There are several reasons not to choose these options from a standard point of view, but I do not have a solution I feel good about.

I'd like opinions from anyone having experience in this area. You can respond to me here or at either of my home or work accounts. Thanks in Advance.

Rick
rickp_at_crl.com (home) m740890_at_csehp1.mdc.com (work)

-- 
Rick Poepping                                          Just my Opinions.
St. Louis, MO USA                                      Keep it Simple.
rickp_at_crl.com                                          Friend of Bill W.