Additional Blogs by Members
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Former Member
0 Kudos

In my Not enough memory to cache directories?, I talked about loading directories to a flash drive.  Loading directories to a USB flash drive, is by no means, faster than loading directories to memory (random access memory or RAM).  However, in the event that the directories cannot be cached in memory, a USB flash drive can give you a boost.

 

In this blog, I will show you how to load directories to a flash drive with step-by-step instructions.  Before we continue, a word of warning - make sure you are comfortable with making modifications to your computer! If not, stop here, or find someone who is.  We will not be making any changes that are irreversible, but can be irreversible if the steps below are not followed with the right context.  At the very least, you can render your Postalsoft inoperable.  If you do not understand the steps below, it may not be a good idea to continue. 

Overview

In essence, we will be copying directories from your hard disk to your flash drive and configuring Postalsoft to use the directories from the flash drive.  Here's what you'll need:

  • One USB flash drive with at least 2GB of space.  They can be found in most department stores and should not cost more than $30, unless you get one with significantly more capacity.
  • Directories are loaded to your computer.  If not, follow KBA1541432.

 

The following steps will assume Postalsoft Business Edition/DeskTop Mailer is installed to its default location (C:Postalsoft) and the directories are already loaded to their default locations.

 

Copy the directories to your USB flash drive

  1. Close any running instance of Business Edition or DeskTop Mailer.
  2. Navigate to where Postalsoft is installed.
  3. Select the DPV, LACSLink, and Suitelink folders.  To select multiple folders, hold down the control key and click on the folder of interest.
  4. Copy these folders.  To copy these folders, right-click on one of the selected folder and select Copy.
  5. Paste those folders to your USB flash drive.  To paste these folders, right-click on the flash drive and select Paste.  In this example, our E: drive is the flash drive:

Configure Postalsoft to use the directories from your USB flash drive

  1. Open Postalsoft.
  2. Open any mdf file.
  3. Go to Tools > Options... 
  4. Under Address Correction, click File Locations...
  5. Go to the Additional USPS File Locations tab.
  6. Set the DPV, LACSLink, and SuiteLink paths to the corresponding locations on the flash drive.  In our example, it would like this:
  7. Click OK when you have finished setting the paths.

 Additional considerations

  • Do you want Postalsoft to always use the directories from the flash drive?
  • Or do you want Postalsoft to use the directories from the flash drive only if you do not have enough memory to cache the directories?

Remember, directories cached in memory will still be faster than using the directories from a flash drive.  If you cannot load your directories to memory most of the time, then it might be a good idea to always use the directories from the flash drive.  To tell Postalsoft to always use directories from a flash drive:

  1. Go to Tools > Correct Address > Correction Settings...
  2. Go to the Multi-Record tab.
  3. Under Additional USPS Processing Options, uncheck Load to memory.
  4. Click OK.