Total newbie: errors compiling PIL with VC6++

[stalin]

[Stani Michiels tries to compile PIL on WinXP, then wonders if there
are binaries available]

WinXP should support binaries compiled for Win32 in general.  You
didn't say which version of Python you're using, but there are PIL
Win32 binaries for Pythons 2.1.1 and 2.2b1 at the PIL home page:

http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/index.htm

The provided installers are very simplistic; they always install to
C:\py21.  You can transfer the crucial files from C:\py21 to a stock
Python installation by:
- copying the .pyd files to Python's DLLs directory
- placing the PIL directory from C:\py21 on your PYTHONPATH. 
PYTHONPATH is an environment variable similar to the Windows PATH
variable you might be familiar with, but for the purpose of Python
module import resolution--equivalent to Java's CLASSPATH.

Alternatively, you could just use Pythonware's Python distribution,
which includes PIL.

http://www.pythonware.com/products/python/index.htm

If you choose this route, make sure you're actually calling the
Pythonware distribution's python.exe after you install it, rather than
your previous distribution's python.exe.  The Pythonware distro has a
goal of peaceful coexistance with other distros, so it won't install
its python.exe as the default, or otherwise mess with the registry. 
You, as a newbie, might be better off having no more than one
distribution installed on your system to avoid confusion (and
Pythonware's distro might be the right one in this case).