Free Office Apps Just Got Easier To Use

If you have an Outlook.com or Hotmail address, you also have access to free web app versions of Microsoft Office that you can access from anywhere. Now Microsoft has added a new feature that makes the apps even easier to navigate. Let’s check it out.

If you aren’t familiar with the Office web apps, it’s not surprising. They are sort of tucked away in Outlook.com. Go your Outlook.com account and select that little drop-down arrow in the upper-left of your inbox.

You’ll see the option to choose Mail, People, Calendar or Skydrive. Choose Skydrive.

Once in Skydrive, you’ll see a + symbol. If you select, it you’ll have the option to create Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and plain text documents.

I chose to create a Word Document, you can see that it looks pretty familiar if you’re a Word User.

A new feature that Microsoft has recently added is called “Tell Me.” Say I want to take a certain action. I can start typing it in the search field and Word will offer suggestions as to the action I’d like to take. The wording doesn’t have to be exact and it’s easier than searching through help.

Selecting the action applies the action. If I selected “increase indent,” I would increase the indent of the paragraph I was working on.

If I type font, I’ll get a drop-down menu with several option. By choosing Font Color, the menu to change colors appears immediately.

With so many options available in Word, it can often be very confusing to find what you need. I hope Microsoft considers adding this function to future Office 365 updates.

~ Sai Kiran

Forget Windows 7 & 8, Replace XP With Linux Ubuntu

You may not be familiar with Linux. It’s an operating system for computers, like Windows. And while the argument could go on forever over which system is superior (both systems have their pros and cons), I think Linux could be a particularly good choice for users forced to switch from Windows XP because Microsoft is ending security support on April 8, 2014. It can be a particularly good choice for those with older computers.

In fact, it’s a superior system to XP. XP is user-friendly, but a lot has changed in the 12 years since XP was launched. And now that Microsoft is ending support, XP is highly vulnerable to external threats such as viruses and malware.

If you’re looking for a change from Windows, consider trying a brand new experience with the Linux platform. Now compared to Windows, Linux doesn’t have a large percentage of users, but in my experience it’s a much better system. It will give you much more than you get from Windows XP or even from Windows 7 or 8.

Let’s talk about why you should consider switching from Windows XP to Linux Ubuntu.

Security: Ubuntu claims to be a virus free OS, and has indeed has been so far. You won’t hear users complaining about malware or viruses slowing out their PC’s while using Ubuntu. On the other hand, as we discussed earlier, Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft. In others words if you are using Windows XP, then you are more likely to be to be affected by malicious software.

Speed: If you have an older computer Running Wndows XP, then you have probably experienceed lagging PC speed. The reason behind that is because XP utilizes a huge portion of your system resources and begins to slows down your PC after awhile. But a fresh install of Ubuntu runs for a long time without any lag. You can experience a smooth running system even years after install since it uses a lesser amount of resources and boosts performance in older machines.

Cost: A very important point is that Linux is free, while Windows OS cost hundreds of dollars. You do not need a product key to activate Linux after installing. It’s a great option if you’re not looking to spend any more money.

Space: Ubuntu occupies much less hard drive space than XP. Other versions of Ubuntu such as Xbuntu, take up even less space and provide almost the same functionality.

Drivers: There’s is no headache of installing drivers for audio, video and graphics from external sources in Ubuntu. The OS automatically detects your hardware and installs the latest drivers. Even if you have lost your drivers, you can still acquire sound and video drivers automatically while using Ubuntu.

Software: Ubuntu comes along with a cluster of useful software absolutely free with no catches or hidden charges. Software like Firefox, Chrome, Libre Office, Open Office and many more can be found at Ubuntu Software center. Another special software, Wine, helps you run most of your Windows based software without any trouble at all.

Customization: Ubuntu users have full customization options. You have the choice to change your desktop colors, task bar sizes and make custom side bars.

Please note, I’m not against Microsoft or Windows. But the Linux OS offers some great options and a free alternative for upgrading. Do not that you may not be able to run every Windows program with Linux, but if you’ve got basic needs like e-mail, browsing the Internet and simple word processing and spreadsheet work, this is a great free alternative.

~ Sai kiran

How To Check Old Hard Drives For Errors

An old hard drive can make a good backup device, but you’re right to be concerned about the reliability of the drive. The best thing you can do to test them is to perform a detailed scan to verify the disk is operating correctly. The first step is to connect the hard drive to an external docking station or open your computer and connect it to one of the internal ports.
Once your hard drive is connected, download PassMark’s DiskCheckup utility by clicking here. This utility will allow you to see the Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T. for short) information and perform a drive test. Once installed, open DiskCheckup, click on your secondary hard drive and click the SMART Info tab.

The SMART information is shown for the drive and while it looks complicated, it’s actually very easy to understand. Only a few columns are needed to diagnose drive health. In general, the higher the numbers, the better; with the exception of temperature (ideally you want from 30c to 50c) and power on time (lower is better).

• Description: This column describes what data is being displayed.
• Value: The current measurement from the drive
• Worst: The lowest the measurement has been.
• Threshold: The point at which the drive is predicted to fail due to that variable.

 Once you’ve looked at the S.M.A.R.T. information, click on the Disk Self Test tab and run a short and an extended test. This will use the drives internal testing system to determine if the drive may contain errors.

If everything looks good, I’d use them.  Remember that hard drive failure can’t always be predicted. If the drive has suffered damage from electrical surges, it may perform erratically or randomly die without warning.
-Sai Kiran

Upgrading Internet Explorer

Sometimes computer tells me Internet Explorer is out of date, reinstall it. How do I do that this? It is a refurbished Windows 7 computer I just bought.

 

This may be as simple as clicking this link and choosing Free download to update your browser.

But if that doesn’t work and you’re still getting a message that you need to reinstall IE, here’s what to do.

To install the latest version of Internet Explorer, just go to Microsoft by following this link. The most up-to-date IE for a Windows 7 system is Internet Explorer 11.

Scroll down to select the English version.

From the drop-down menu choose Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit.

To find out if you’re running 32 or 64 bits, Click the Start button, right-click Computer, and then click Properties.

You’ll see the information listed next to System Type.

Once you select download, our computer should prompt you about what to do next.

~Sai kiran

In Windows 7, how to I make all folders open large, all the time?

To make files automatically show thumbnails, you have to change a setting in the Control Panel. The easiest way to get to the control panel is simply to type Control Panel in the search bar on the start menu. Once there, click on Appearance and Personalization.

Then, click on Folder options.

Under folder options, click the View tab at the top.

Finally, make sure to uncheck the square that says “Always show icons, never thumbnails” and you should see the thumbnails when you load up all your folders.

For the second part of the question, if I’m understanding you correctly, you would like to keep your windows the same size. When you close a window, the next window will open to that size. However, it does follow the last window you close. So if you have a small window, and a window that is maximized, if you close the small window first, then the maximized window, the next window you open would be maximized. Likewise, if you close the maximized window first, then the smaller window, your windows will be the size of the small window next time you open one.

~ Sai Kiran

Yahoo! Mail Brings Back Tabs

When Yahoo! redesigned its mail service back in October, a lot of users were not happy with the changes. One of the biggest complaints, Yahoo! Mail’s tab feature was removed.

The tabs allowed users to have several open e-mails at the same time and to switch back and forth easily between them by selecting a tab.

Now the company is admitting it made a mistake. Jeff Bonforte from Yahoo wrote on the Yahoo! Mail Blog:

“When we launched the new version of Mail in October, we removed Tabs. One of the things you told us that annoyed you about tabs is that the more you had open, the harder they were to manage, and you wanted multitasking to be easy. With your feedback, we launched Recent view to help you jump between emails, drafts and search results more easily, but many of you still missed tabs. So we’re bringing back tabs, but this time, they’re a bit smarter.”

Here’s how get tabs back to your Yahoo! Mail. In the inbox, select the drop-down arrow next to view on the right side of the inbox.

From the menu, choose Tabs.

Once activated, you’ll be able to have multiple e-mails open and easily switch between them.

There’s also a new feature. You’ll find a drop-down arrow beside the last tab.

On that menu, you’ll see all of tabs you have open and a Preview All option.

Preview All gives you a quick look at all of your tabs. It’s a great feature if you have multiple table open and need to find something quickly. You can just click or tap on the preview to go to the message you want.

With all the complaints about the redesign and a major service outage that resulted in CEO Marissa Mayer issuing a public apology not only for the outage, but for the way Yahoo! handled it, the company needs all the goodwill it can get from its users.

~ Sai Kiran

Tiles Not Working In Windows 8.1

Some people have reported issues caused by a third party security software. Do your tiles have little arrows in the lower corner?

If so, go to the Windows store and try downloading and reinstalling them once more. Also try temporarily disabling your third-party security software and see if that makes any difference in how your tiles work.

You can also try uninstalling and then reinstalling those apps that won’t function. I know, that doesn’t sound like fun. But try it with one app to see if it works. Search for Uninstall apps and select it.

Select an app from the list.

Choose uninstall.

Then go to the Windows App store and try reinstalling the app. Do this with one app and see if it works before uninstalling multiple apps.

If that doesn’t work, there may be a problem with your user account in Windows. Go to the Search Charm and type in “create an account.”

Select the Create Account icon.

You’ll see the option to Activate a guest account.

Hopefully, one of these solutions helps.

~Sai Kiran

Tagged Facebook Photos Not Showing Up – Can I Fix?

when you tag someone in a photo, you’d like it to post on their News Feed or Timeline. There’s not really anything you can do about that. Some Facebook users choose to be notified when they are tagged in photos and others do not. 

Some have privacy settings that don’t allow you to tag them without their approval, while others won’t permit anyone to tag them at all. A user can choose whether or not they want tagged photos to appear in their News Feed or on their Timeline for others to see. 



If you want to make sure someone sees certain photos, you could always message them the link or share the photos with them. When you click the “Share” option on a photo, you have the choice of sharing the photo on a friend’s Timeline or in a private message to that friend. If your friend doesn’t permit others to post on his or her timeline, a private message is the best way to make sure he or she sees the picture.
~ Sai kiran