There are a number of free programs out there. Irfanview is one, GIMP is another. GIMP is fairly feature rich which may not be what you're looking for, but if you stick with it and learn the software, it can do pretty much anything you would want to do with an image.
If you decide to give GIMP a whirl, head to
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html and download "The GIMP for Windows" along with the "GTK+2" that matches the system you are using (Windows 2000/XP or the seperate download for Windows 9x). Install the GTK+2 program first picking all the defaults, then install GIMP, again picking all the defaults.
I haven't used the MS Office Photo Editor in a while so can't help with resizing pictures in it. Maybe another member can chime in with help.
any smaller and you'd have to put a micrscope up to the screen to see them. This is the first time I haven't been able to just attach photos to a message. How does one set the dpi of the pictures? I can find where it's listed in Microsoft Photo Editor but can't alter it at all. 
