Allow trading Q

Been using metatrader for years and thought I knew it pretty well but this one is confusing me.

Each EA loaded has option to "allow live trading" checked

BUT

in the main window of MT4 under Tools>Options>Expert Advisors

you can uncheck the "allow live trading"

But the smiley face stays.

So is it allowed or not if EA is checked yes, but tools>options is no.

I ask for this reason. i have an EA but it doesn't look at history, only going forward so if a condition is met while it is on then it will execute which is not what I want.
I tried leaving it on a chart and enabling when I want it to do something but that doesn't work as its the same as not being on the chart.

So I want it enabled and on chart but not trading. Checking and unchecking each EA on several charts is time consuming but I hope the Tools>Options>Expert.. will be the solution for me to allow me to leave my EA live.

Anyone know?
PH

If the one ON the chart is unchecked the EA WILL NOT TRADE! - The option under tools just allows you to set a default for when you place new EA's on a chart.