... can I save an image so that it can be used as a desktop icon? Can anyone please help me?
You could try this it's freeware:-
IcoFX - The Free Icon Editor
Well done, maybe you could give us a quick revue of how easy/difficult etc. the software was from the point of view of someone that has used it for the first time?
It was very easy. The only confusing thing was that it showed the icon close up so it didn't look right so I tried to do it again. I also wasn't sure about the settings, however as I had already designed the icon in publisher and paint it was really just a case of saving it in the correct format