NPD Update 3.55 (01/15/03) by Acorn Data Systems

New Release Adds Features to Make You More Productive

New Key Features:

· MultiArea Feature for when The Post zones your area

· Screen for entry of Office Pay Tips.

What’s on this NPD CD?

· New NPD Installation—to install NPD on a new computer.

· NPD Update—to update NPD with the latest features on your current computer.

· AcornFTP—to update earlier version of AcornFTP.

· Adobe© Acrobat Reader 5.0—the latest upgrade for reading PDF files.

You may install any of the four applications on this CD that you need. It is redundant to run both the NPD Update and the New NPD Installation. The New NPD Installation and the AcornFTP may restart your computer.

Save This CD

In the event that you buy a new computer in the future, you can use this CD to install the most recent NPD version. If you have an Internet connection and want to take full advantage of it to manage your business, we encourage you to install AcornFTP if you have not already done so. The best way to download a new version of NPD online is to use the Download NPD Update button in NPD Tools. (The password is update, all in lower case.)

Modifications and Buttons to Look for on NPD 3.55:

1. Vacation Notes are now displayed on the vacation browse screen.

2. The Inactive List for Bad Pay Year now has a balance filter.

3. The Daily Service Transactions screen now has a button to jump to Perpare Daily Draw.

4. The filter option for payments/credits on the Daily Service Transaction screen now also applies to the report.

5. The Address Maintenance screen has a filter to show All Routes, Delivery Routes Only, or Non-Delivery Routes Only. If you have not yet done so, you are encouraged to set up Route POB as a non-delivery route and use it for all the Bill To addresses that are not delivery addresses in your area. This includes PO Boxes and out of town addresses.

6. The MultiArea feature was added to allow NPD to keep more than one area in the same database. The purpose of this feature is to avoid splitting your area into two separate NPD databases when your area is split into two areas for advertising purposes. To prevent accidental use of this feature a passcode must be obtained from Acorn Data.

7. Enhancements have been added to the Download Daily Transactions and Download the P2A (Reconciliation) files to catch and skip errors in the file apparently caused by bugs in the Post’s Central Records software.

8. A Reconciliation Summary report has been added. This report gives the counts of the number of subscribers on each of the four reports. That information is also displayed on the Reconciliation screen.

9. Subscriber Filters now may use ZIP code. The Routes filter button has been renamed the Routes and Zip Codes button. You may specify from 1 to 5 digits of the ZIP code for matching with the delivery address.

10. A Cash Receipts screen has been added for the rapid entry of Office Pay Tips. The sorting of this screen and of the Enter Prepaid Credits screen is under review.

11. A fault in the Bill Message Rules has been fixed. The All/Good Standing option to print messages based on Edition now works correctly.

12. A new Serve Report, Apartment Big (2Tower), has been added. This version of the Apartment Serve report sorts by the last letter of the apartment number. Use this report for buildings where the last letter of the apartment number indicates the wing or tower of the building.

13. The Reconciliation screen now requires a download of the P2A file each time the screen is entered. This was added to assure you are always using the latest version of the P2A file.

14. The vacation start date error in the reconciliation process has been fixed. In addition, new subscribers who start after the P2A file date are not considered. The NPD subscriber status is now automatically changed to the effective date of the P2A file. Status is changed back to today after the reconcilistion process.

15. New rules are in effect to determine for which Sunday papers are considered Sunday Only and which are considered Combo. Now any Sunday paper that is not associated with the six daily only papers is considered to be a Sunday Only paper. For example, a “1 Daily and 2 Sunday” edition will have one Sunday Only paper and one Combo paper for Sunday. This change mostly impacts the Compute Daily Draw and the Paper Counts by Day and Paper Counts for Period reports. This does not impact your Sunday Only filter which looks at the Edition Name, not paper counts.

16. An option to include vacation restart dates on the Carrier Mail has been added.

Earl O. Merrill

Acorn Data Systems, Inc.

emerrill@acorndata.com 410-997-0187 www.acorndata.com

Acorn Data Systems, Inc.

FYI: Tips that will make your work a little easier

1. Passwords: The password to download a NPD update from NPD Tools is update. The password to FTP an Export for Address Check is earl.

2. When to Call Acorn Data: The best time to call with problems or questions is Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., or between 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Please limit calls at other times to emergencies only.

3. Higher Screen Resolution: NPD now requires your screen resolution be 800x600, or higher.

4. Be Safe, Back Up Your Work: Use the Backup on Normal Exit option on the Main Switchboard to automatically back up your work on NPD. This feature is not a replacement for external backups (you should continue to do that), but it is a convenient way to restore your database. Effective May 1, 2002, the Acorn Data fee to recover from a problem when you lack adequate or reasonable backups is $200 for the first hour. The purpose of this fee is to encourage you to keep backups for at least a week as sometimes a problem is not uncovered for several days.

5. Keep Up to Date, Get on My Email List: Stay informed of updates, tips and other valuable information. If you are not already on my email list, send an email to emerrill@acorndata.com. Include your name and area number. Also, remember to notify me of any changes to your address, phone or email.

6. Effective January 1, 2003, failure to pay for your address update within 30 days will place your account in Cash in Advance Status. You may use PayPal or Check to pay for your address update. Payments made within 24 hours of the service may take a $5 prompt payment discount. Checks sent by regular mail must be post marked by the next business day for the discount to apply.

7. Payments via PayPal: You can make quick, secure Visa/Master Charge payments to Acorn with PayPal. PayPal is reputable and a free service. It provides the credit card service for eBay and several other web sites. To join PayPal, visit NPD at www.acorndata.com and go to the NPD eStore page which has a link to PayPal. After you have joined, you must return to NPD eStore to enter your payment.

8. CHKDSK in Windows 2000 and XP. These versions of Windows do not use ScanDisk, they use CHKDSK. You should run CHKDSK at least once a month. To run it (1) Open My Computer, (2) Right click the local C: drive, and select properties, (3) Click the Tools tab, (4) Click Check Now on the Error-Checking section, (5) Select Automatically Fix File System Errors and click Start. Most likely, you will need to select the option to schedule the error checking the next time you restart the computer.

Another way to start CHKDSK is to click Start, Run and type CHKDSK.EXE /F in the white box. The /F is necessary for a real test. This approach will also require scheduling at the next computer restart.

9. If you encounter the DynaZip Busy error, you will need to restart the computer to clear it.

Earl O. Merrill

Acorn Data Systems, Inc.

emerrill@acorndata.com 410-997-0187 www.acorndata.com