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Using NPR Desktop Alerts

If your question isn't answered in the FAQ below, contact support for further assistance.

Common Questions:

Common Issues:

Usage Questions:

What is "NPR Desktop Alerts"?

NPR Desktop Alerts is software that allows you to receive the latest news delivered directly to your PC’s desktop. You can download the application here.

How do I make the most out of NPR Desktop Alerts?

  • Set up an alert for your favorite news sources.
  • Add any RSS feed to NPR Desktop Alerts.

What are the system requirements?

  • Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
  • CPU speed: Intel© Pentium© 400 MHz (or higher)
  • System memory (RAM): 256MB
  • 5.5 MB hard-disk space
  • Internet access

Is there a Mac or Linux version?

Unfortunately not. Presently the company that built the engine for this software is concentrating on the development of the Windows version of the software. However, they do plan to develop a Mac and/or Linux version in the future. 

How do I add my own news feeds?

To add news feeds, open the options window and select ‘My Feeds’. Then cut and paste the feed URL into the field labeled ‘Your Feed’. You can also drag and drop the RSS icon/URL onto any part of the message browser window, ticker or options window. You can locate many NPR feeds at NPR’s RSS News Feed page.

How do I access the desktop alerts settings?

Select ‘Options’ from the right-click menu. You can access this menu by right clicking on the system tray icon.

How do I set up a news alert?

Right click on the system tray icon and select ‘options’. Select either the ‘My Feeds’ tab or the ‘NPR Feeds’ tab and click on the check box below the ‘Alert’ column next to the feed for which you’d like to receive alerts. The software will then alert you when new items are available for that feed.

I'm unable to use the application due to one of the following issues: right clicking on the task bar icon reveals no menu, a white screen occupies my desktop when Desktop Alerts starts or the feed browser is inoperable.

If you are running Real Player version 11, try uninstalling Real Player 11 and then reinstalling it. For many users there is a conflict.

Also, if you are running the latest version of Flash (version 9.0.115.0) and the old version of NPR Desktop Alerts (1.1.0 (33)), you may experience problems with the application. This issue has been resolved with the latest version of NPR Desktop Alerts which you can download here. You can identify your Flash version by clicking here.

I have downloaded NPR Desktop Alerts but the software is not running. What's going on?

The program that was downloaded is the NPR Desktop Alerts application installer which must be run to install the application. Make sure that you download the installer to a memorable location (such as "desktop" or "My Documents"). After you’ve downloaded the file, double-click it and follow the on screen instructions to install NPR Desktop Alerts.

What is the right-click menu, how do I access it and what is it for?

To access the right-click menu, right-click the icon located in the system tray or the character/icon that presents messages to you. Using the right-click menu, you can access all of the available functions of NPR Desktop Alerts. You can:

  • Turn Alerts Off/Turn Alerts On - Disable or enable all pop-up news alerts.
  • Show/Hide Ticker - click this to reveal the desktop ticker on screen or send it away.
  • Show/Hide Feed Browser - click this to show or hide the message browser window. Within this window you can browse the various news feeds that are available.
  • Latest Alerts - View the most recent news alerts that your computer has received.
  • Find NPR Stations - Search for NPR stations by zip code, city or radio call letters (e.g. WXYZ).
  • Send to a friend - Tell a friend about NPR Desktop Alerts via email.
  • Help - Here you can find instructions for using NPR Desktop alerts, a FAQ, the privacy policy and the End User License Agreement for the software.
  • Options - use this to select the news categories you will receive via the alert window or desktop ticker. Here you may also change various configuration settings of the application.
  • Exit - Shut down the NPR Desktop Alerts application. You will not receive any messages until it is restarted.

The sound my desktop alert is making is annoying, how can I turn it off?

To mute your NPR Desktop Alerts right click on the NPR Desktop Alerts icon, select ‘Options’ and then select the ‘General Settings’ tab. Then uncheck the ‘Alert Sounds On’ box.

I closed a message by mistake, how do I recall it?

Access the right-click menu and choose the ‘Latest Alerts’ option and navigate to the message that you missed.

My personal firewall flagged the fact that NPR Desktop Alerts is trying to connect to the Internet. What’s going on?

The NPR Desktop Alerts application needs to contact the Internet occasionally to see if there are any messages it needs to display. If there are, then these messages will be downloaded. The application will also send back anonymous statistics (such as the number of clicks on a particular link) to our server.

When I click on a link sent to me by NPR Desktop Alerts, nothing happens. Why?

Some users, AOL users in particular, may have an unsupported browser associated with links or have no default browser set up at all. Follow these steps to fix this issue:

  • From the Windows Start Menu, choose "Control Panel" (or "Settings/Control Panel if using the "Classic Start Menu" or a Windows version earlier than XP).
  • Select "Network and Internet Connections/Internet Options" (or "Internet Properties" if using a Windows version earlier than XP).
  • On that window, select the "Programs" tab.
  • Make sure you check the box next to "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser".
  • Start Internet Explorer and choose "Yes".
  • (If using another browser such as Mozilla, Netscape, Firefox or Opera please refer to the relevant help section in those applications).

I have installed NPR Desktop Alerts correctly but I haven't I received any messages. What’s going on?

There are a number of reasons why this may be happening:

  • Powerpoint is running. To stop messages from appearing during important presentations, the NPR Desktop Alerts application will not display alerts while powerpoint is running. If there is a message waiting, closing Powerpoint will make the message appear immediately.
  • You could be accessing the Internet through a Proxy Server. In this case you may need to manually enter the relevant details into the NPR Desktop Alerts application (please check with your Network Administrator or ISP to find out if this is the case). To do this, follow these steps:
    • Access the NPR Desktop Alerts options from the right click menu.
    • Click on "Proxy Settings" to open the proxy window.
    • Click the circle next to "Manually enter settings" and enter the details provided by your Network Administrator or ISP.
    • Click "OK" to close the Proxy Settings window, and close the NPR Desktop Alerts settings window.
  • Most messages are shown at a pre-set time/date. If your computer clock is wrong, messages will not be executed at the correct time. Make sure your time settings are correct by double-clicking the time on your taskbar.
  • You may not have any channels selected.

Why don’t I hear any sound for the desktop alerts?

Make sure that:

  • The sound option is checked in the options panel (under the 'other options' tab)
  • You have a sound card in your computer
  • You have speakers plugged into the computer and they are turned on
  • You do not have the sound muted in Windows

Some of the text in the messages seems not to fit in the window and there are no scrolling options allowing me to view the bottom of the message. Why is that?

You may have large fonts setup in your display settings. To revert to small fonts, you need to do the following:

  • From the Windows Start Menu, choose "Control Panel" (or "Settings/Control Panel if using the "Classic Start Menu" or a Windows version earlier than XP).
  • Select "Appearance and Themes/Display" (or "Display" if using a Windows version earlier than XP).
  • Select the Settings tab.
  • Click the "Advanced" button.
  • Change Display Font Size to Small Fonts.
  • Click Apply/OK and Reboot.
Note: this will also change the font size of all of your desktop icons etc

I can't find the NPR icon in the system tray anymore. Where has it gone?

There are 2 possible reasons why the NPR icon may have disappeared from the system tray:

  • Windows XP has hidden it. To retrieve it, simply click the "<" button in the system tray.
  • "explorer.exe" crashed and did not correctly restore the icon. In this case NPR Desktop Alerts is probably still running. To retrieve the icon you will need to stop the application and restart it. Windows 2000/XP users should follow these steps:
    • Hold down "CTRL + ALT + DEL".
    • In the resulting window, click the "Task Manager" button (in Windows XP Home Edition, you will automatically be taken to the Task Manager)
    • The Windows Task Manager will appear. Click the "Processes" tab.
    • Click the column title named "Image Name" to alphabetically order the processes.
    • You must find the process related to your desktop news alerts. This is called NPRdesktopalerts.exe.
    • Once you have found the process, simply highlight it and click "End Process". A warning will appear and you should click "Yes".
    • Now that NPR Desktop Alerts has been stopped, you can restart it from the Windows Start Menu.

Is the NPR Desktop Alerts application storing all of the messages on my computer? Will I run out of space?

No. Once a message has been "bumped" out of the message history, all assets relating to that message are deleted.

Does the NPR Desktop Alerts application contain adware, spyware or viruses? Are you uploading my personal information without my knowledge/consent?

No, the application does not contain any type of malware. The only information the application uploads are anonymous statistics. Please see the Privacy Policy for details. (Right click on the systray icon and go to help/privacy to read the privacy policy).

Is the NPR Desktop Alerts application using a lot of system resources

No. The application uses very little system memory (usually between 5 and 10 megabytes), its CPU usage is very low and the hard disk space used will rarely exceed 20 megabytes.

Why does my NPR Desktop Alerts icon hide itself if I don't touch it?

The NPR Desktop Alerts application is programmed to hide the character/icon after a few minutes to prevent it from getting in the way. For alerts, this is configurable under ‘General Settings’ in the Alerts/ticker options panel.

I want to uninstall the NPR Desktop Alerts application. How do I do that?

There are 2 ways to uninstall the NPR Desktop Alerts application.

  • By using Windows Add/Remove Programs, located in the Control Panel (please consult Windows help for information on how to do this).
  • From the Start Menu. - When it is installed, the NPR Desktop Alerts application creates an uninstall icon in its program group in the Start Menu. Clicking this will start the deinstallation process.

What are news feeds?

News feeds are an easy way for you to keep track of the latest news from your favorite websites in one convenient place. RSS - which stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication - provides you with the latest headlines from your favorite sites. You can also click on a link which will take you to the web site that contains the full story. Learn more by visiting NPR's RSS News Feed page.

What port does the NPR Desktop Alerts application use to access the Internet?

Port 80

Contact NPR Desktop Alerts support

 

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