Power Up with PowerToys

A bunch of free tools for Windows XP, courtesy of Microsoft.
Some of the most helpful Windows XP features don't actually come with the operating system. Instead they come with a collection of handy software tools called PowerToys. PowerToys are utilities Microsoft programmers created while working on Windows or other products, and they add a lot of practical capabilities to Windows. They're free and they should work without problems, but you should know that you're on your own with them. They're not officially a part of Windows, and they're not supported by Microsoft.
PowerToys are available for all users of Windows XP, from www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx . Each toy comes in a separate installation; just click the download links on the right side of the page, and then open the installers when the respective transfers are complete. Sometimes there is a free lunch.

Image Resizer.

This PowerToy delivers what it promises: Just highlight one or more image files (JPG, BMP, etc.) in Windows Explorer, right-click, and select Resize Pictures. Specify a target size and click OK, and the tool resizes all selected photos in one step.

Despite its usefulness, Image Resizer's interface needs a little tweaking of its own. There are only four default size options, the first three of which make sense only for landscape-oriented photos. The last, "Handheld PC," is really suitable only for portrait photos on a PocketPC handheld; photos for PalmOS screens, for instance, can be twice as big.
For best results, avoid the default sizes, and instead click Advanced and choose the Custom option. To accommodate both portrait and landscape photos, choose a maximum size (in pixels) and type that number into both boxes. Don't worry, this won't make all your photos square; the numbers you specify indicate only the maximum size of the larger dimension of each photo. A size between 600 and 800 pixels is a good choice for photos that are to be e-mailed or posted to a Web site; use 1,000 if you want each photo to almost fill your screen. (Never shrink photos to be printed.)

To preserve your original, high-resolution photos, Image Resizer creates new filenames for the files it resizes, such as dsc02025 (Custom).jpg. To batch-rename the resulting files subsequently, so they're, say, suitable for posting to a Web site (for example, dsc02025thumb.jpg), you'll need a tool like Power Rename (www.creativelement.com/powertools).

RAW Image Viewer.

If you shoot RAW images with a high-end Nikon or Canon digital camera, you can view them with Microsoft's RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer, available free at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/raw.mspx. It bears a striking resemblance to the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, but provides one additional service: It generates RAW thumbnails for use with Windows Explorer's Thumbnails view, which Explorer can't do by itself.