Offline Docs are not working

One advantage of using Google Docs on your laptop is that you can work on writing (word processing) even without an Internet connection. Click Here for information about setting up your computer to use Offline Docs.

A few tips on working offline:

1) If you have had your Drive open in Chrome previously and are now offline, you will need to "refresh" to see the offline Drive page. It looks different than your online Drive.

2) You can also access your Docs offline by navigating to through the Google Drive application on your computer. Double-clicking an item in your Drive should open it in Chrome, but if it tries to open in Explorer or Firefox you will need to set Chrome as your Default Browser (open Chrome, click on the wrench int he upper right and scroll down to find the button for "Make Chrome my Default Browser")

Where are the electronic textbooks?

The 9th grade laptops have copies of Math and US History textbooks installed. The US History version does not have all of the features of the online version, but the reading content is the same and can be useful when you do not have an Internet connection.

Students can find these textbooks by going to Start --> Computer --> Local Disk --> Textbooks --> History (or Math) and opening the folder for the text they wish to use.

For the US History text, double-click "Start Here," and for the math texts double-click "student_one_stop" for the textbook launcher.

You can also right-click on the startup icons and choose "Send To --> Desktop to create a desktop shortcut to the textbook.

Tip: some portions of the textbooks open in a web browser. Click Here to see instructions on how to get these to open up in Chrome instead of Internet Explorer. Look in the "osp" folder of each textbook to find the file called index.html and change the file association of that file.

How and where do I PRINT from my school laptop?

The HP 3115 laptops are set up to print to three networked printers at MMU: the PCLab (by front entrance), Rm 404, and the Learning Lab (entrance between bathrooms in the second "cross-hallway").

You will need to select a printer each time you print: the system default printer is Adobe PDF (will save as a PDF file instead of printing) to prevent accdental printing to the wrong printer.

Please THINK BEFORE YOU PRINT! Look carefully at the preview to double-check for titles, your name, spellcheck, etc.

Printing Google Docs directly to a printer will only work in Google Chrome: Firefox and Explorer will prompt to save to PDF even after you choose a printer.

Printing at home: Most printers will "plug and play" in Win7 when connected with a USB cable. If that does not work, check with Mr. Hall for further instructions: some printer software will modify system print setup and it is usually not necessary to install the entire printing package when only the drivers are needed.

Trackpad adjustments - Part 2

A few tips for using the TouchPad on your HP 3115:

1) If "tapping" is on, tapping twice on the indentation (upper left of trackpad) will turn the trackpad off while you are typing. The orange light next to the indentation will turn ON when the trackpad is OFF.

2) The sensitivity of the trackpad and speed of the pointer can be adjusted in Control Panel --> Mouse --> Pointer Options.

3) Refer to this article for instructions on how to enable advanced trackpad options (tapping off, two-finger scroll, etc.)

Do I need to install Adobe Reader to view PDFs?

The HP laptops already have Adobe Acrobat Pro installed, so installing Adobe Reader is NOT necessary. In order for the Adobe PDF plugin to work (so that you can view PDF files directly in your browser), you need to first open Adobe Acrobat from your Programs menu and "Agree" to the license.

Beware: If you ever DO install Acrobat Reader on another computer (or have done so by accident), it may install a copy of McAffee Antivirus as well. Having more than one antivirus program running can slow down you computer and/or cause other problems, so it is best to avoid this (uncheck the box during the installation) or uninstall McAfee (Control Panel --> Programs and Features)