this is a nifty little icon maker app

http://towofu.s5.xrea.com/soft/files/aicon102.zip
http://towofu.s5.xrea.com/soft/e-index.html
http://screenshot.lockergnome.com/iconsushi.png

"Icon make icons, con you? Actually, you can, using this application. With a little bit of raw fish (data), you can turn just about any image into an icon. It's most useful feature was specifically designed for Windows XP users, although it will work on any Windows system with a 16-bit (or higher) color depth. That special feature is a transparency mask - which will make the icon's edges appear smooth no matter what is sitting behind it. You can also use this utility to extract icons from EXE and DLL files, and paste from the clipboard at will. Those old icons are boring, and a little personal expression never hurt anyone. "Open Adobe Photoshop Documents; use current background color when saving; make multiple icons in one file."

Microangelo works well, too, but I'm not sure of the url to download it. It's what I use at work.

Adovbs