Your first issue is new to me. I don't have any idea about why this happens.

About the ribbon. You need a third-party tool (not free) to get back
the old menu's. See http://www.addintools.com/
And I've read (but I didn't try) that Office 2010 will have the option to hide or minimize the ribbon.
For a desktop, I'd recommend a bigger screen. For a laptop, and especially a netbook, that's a problem. Office 2007 just doesn't seem to be the right program for such hardware.

Kees