Microsoft PowerToys is a set of programs provided by Microsoft for the Windows operating system. PowerToys are not integrated into Windows since they are released after the public release of a Windows operating system.
Original Windows PowerToys
The original Windows PowerToys are extra goodies that simply should have been part of Windows 95 at the beginning. The designers of the Windows 95 shell wrote them for their own use initially, and later were permitted to post them as free, unsupported add-ons (which work very well despite the official “unsupported” stance). For several years, I have thought of them simply as indispensable parts of a standard Windows install. Mostly, these original PowerToys work very well not only in Windows 95, but also in Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition (ME), and Windows XP. This FAQ explains which ones do and do not work in each of these versions of Windows. Windows XP PowerToys
Microsoft has released an entirely new set of PowerToys custom created for Windows XP, including TweakUI 2.0 (which, in this FAQ, I’ll simply call “TweakUI XP”). This is the first new issue of a PowerToys set since Windows 95. With only a couple of exceptions, these tools do not at all duplicate the original Win95 PowerToys. This means that most of the original Win95 PowerToy set is also still very useful and desirable on Win XP in addition to the new XP PowerToys.
source: Windows PowerToys FAQ for Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 & XP
Power toys was only for windows XP operating system. It is not available for Windows 7.
Image Resizer
Right click on an image name or thumbnail in Explorer or My Computer and choose Resize Pictures. You can choose from four specific sizes that are common choices for email and the devices of the period. The tool doesn't allow you to set a JPG compression level. They don't tell us what compression they are using but the results look OK. Unless you tell them under Advanced to replace the image in the file, it will make a copy. That's good. They will add the word, "Large", "Medium" or "Small" to the end of the name you have chosen. Under Advanced you can also select to resize to a custom size.
- Windows XP version available at Microsoft web site.
- A Powertoys Image Resizer clone has been developed for Windows 7 by a 3rd party. The application has been re-written in C++ to support Vista and Windows 7 in both 32 and 64-bit versions. NOT RECOMMENDED - This "clone" will cause DATA LOSS! In our lab we noted errors resulted in an image being deleted when "Replace the Originals" is checked. A design flaw causes it to delete before it verifies the new image was correctly produced. Also, the .net framework is a slow and bulky install but is required for this utility.
- Doesn't compress as well as the original MS Image Resizer
- Glitch may cause images to be deleted
- Hefty .NET Framework installation required
- Weird preset image size options
- Sluggish to load
The Image Resizer in PowerToys for XP is much better than the Clone for Windows 7 at Codeplex.