Keeping Resolution from Forced Changes

Got a toughie maybe. Looking for some way to keep my system at the resolution I pick. I have some programs and games (all 16-32 bit) that see to force change my resolution to what they want, some being 800x600. Some programs allow me to change my res back and they will be in a window mode and work fine. Others will go dark and need to be forced closed.

Is there some program I can use that will not allow any program to change my screen size and force them to just run the way they should?

XP I run 1440x900.

Thank you for any info.