You’ve got questions and we’ve got answers. Today we highlight how to master
the new Office interface, USB boot a computer with outdated BIOS, and snap windows to preset locations.
Learning
the New Office Ribbon
Dear How-To Geek,
I feel silly asking this (in light of how long
the new Office interface has been out) but my company finally got around to upgrading from Windows XP and Office 2000 so
the new interface it totally new to me. Can you recommend any resources for quickly learning
the Office ribbon and
the new changes? I feel completely lost after two decades of
the old Office interface. Help!
Sincerely,
Where
the Hell is Everything?
Dear Where
the Hell,
We think most people were with you at some point in
the last few years. “Where
the hell is…” could possibly be
the slogan for
the new ribbon interface. You could browse through some of
the dry tutorials online or even get a weighty book on
the topic but
the best way to learn something new is to get hands on. Ribbon Hero turns learning
the new Office features and ribbon layout into a game. It’s no vigorous round of Team Fortress mind you, but it’s significantly more fun than reading a training document. Check out how to install and configure Ribbon Hero here. You’ll be teaching your coworkers new tricks in no time.
Boot via USB with an
Old BIOS
Dear How-To Geek,
I’m trying to repurpose some
old computers by updating them with lightweight Linux distros but
the BIOS on most of
the machines is ancient and creaky. How ancient? It doesn’t even support booting from a USB device! I have a large flash drive that I’ve turned into a master installation tool for jobs like this but I can’t use it.
The computers in question have USB ports; they just aren’t recognized during
the boot process. What can I do?
USB Bootin’ in Boise
Dear USB Bootin’,
It’s great you’re working to breathe life into
old hardware! You’ve run into one of
the limitations of older BIOSes, USB was around but nobody was thinking about booting off of it. Fortunately if you have a computer
old enough to have that kind of BIOS it’s likely to also has a floppy drive or a CDROM drive. While you could make a bootable CDROM for your application we understand that you want to keep using
the master USB installer you’ve made. In light of that we recommend PLoP Boot Manager. Think of it like a boot manager for your boot manager. Using it you can create a bootable floppy or CDROM that will enable USB booting of your master USB drive. Make a CD and a floppy version and you’ll have everything in your toolkit you need for future computer refurbishing projects. Read up on creating bootable media with PLoP Boot Manager here.
Snapping Windows to Preset Coordinates
Dear How-To Geek,
Once upon a time I had a company laptop that came with a little utility that snapped windows to preset areas of
the screen. This was long before
the snap-to-side features in Windows 7. You could essentially configure your screen into a grid pattern of your choosing and then windows would neatly snap into those grids. I have no idea what it was called or if was anymore than a gimmick from
the computer manufacturer, but I’d really like to have it on my new computer!
Bend and Snap in San Francisco,
Dear Bend and Snap,
If we had to guess, we’d guess your company must have had a set of laptops from Acer as
the program you’re describing sounds exactly like Acer GridVista. Fortunately for you
the application was extremely popular and Acer released it independently of their hardware. If, by chance, you’ve since upgraded to a multiple monitor setup
the app even supports multiple monitors—many of
the configurations are handy for arranging IM windows and other auxiliary communication tools. Check out our guide to installing and configuring Acer GridVista here for more information.
Have a question you want to put before
the How-To Geek staff? Shoot us an email at
[email protected] and then keep an eye out for a solution in
the Ask How-To Geek column.
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