Unable to View MetaTrader Folder Content

Hi guys,
I've run into a huge problem.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THE INTRO, SCROLL DOWN TO 'SKIP HERE' TO READ THE QUESTION.

Intro (I've added this because I think it might be relevant)
During the recent weeks, I've been having problems with my wireless internet connection. The problem was that every now and then, the modem disabled the wifi connection for some reason. I contacted my ISP and it turned out they had installed a new piece of software on my router-modem, which was kind of spooky (big brother, anyone?). I rebooted all the systems are everything seemed to be working for a while. But then it started all over again. I called my ISP IT dept again. And again.

They told me that their networking performance tells them that I have around 400-600 connections (the more programs that are connected to the internet, the more connections). They also told me that when the number of connections goes too high, the modem automatically disables access to the web. The first one to go is wifi (I also have a PC that is connected via cable, which works just fine).

Now. My laptop, the one that I use wifi with, uses Vista. I have MT4 installed and I suspect this is the program that is causing all the problems. I think so because recently I've expanded the numbers of bars to be kept in history and I've also downloaded quite a bit of history of different currency pairs. I have a feeling that MT4 is not all done with downloading all the data and in addition, there is just so much data on my PC that it is having an effect on my PC's performance. I know so because recently when I've turned on MT4, the PC has been pretty slow and uncooperative.

SKIP HERE
And here is the crux of the problem. I can't access most of the files and folders in my MT4 folder (ProgramFiles/Metatrader4). This seems to be a problem only with my laptop PC (which runs on Vista), because I am able to access, view and edit these files on the other PC, which uses Windows XP. If I click on 'properties' it tells me that MT4 folder, all in all, is just 11.8MB large. This doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.

Is there a way that I could view, edit and/or deleted these files without uninstalling and then reinstalling MT4? I could really use your help guys.

PS. I did a google search and I also searched this forum and wasn't able to find anything. If you have a link, then please provide it, don't flame. I'm feeling terrible as it is.

I seem to have found the solution. Right after writing this post, after having done a dozen or so google searches, I was already getting tired of it and about to quit googling,I changed the search phrase again and came up with this: http://forum.mql4.com/17184

It's always the last place you look, isn't it?

Yes, gone are the days where you can just copy/paste files directly into the "crogram files" directories or delete or edit files there.

I mean you CAN in Vista but it's a damn religious experience.

You can simply install MT4 in a folder inside the user profile and NOT in program files. Then all problems are gone.

MT4 is simply not meant for any newer windows versions, the Metaquotes programmers have missed the last 15 years, they still do it like it was done in 1995. There is absolutely NO justification and NO need for any program to ever write any data into c:/program files. Never ever.

A program should create its own data folder in %APPDATA% and this is where it cancreate and update as many files as it wants. c:/Program files is only for read-only data, only written once during installation and then never again. Virtually every other windows application on this planet does it this way, only MT4 choses to ignore the guidelines and produces endless confusion.

And Microsoft should have never invented this VirtualStore crap to let such malfunctioning software get away with it. Instead they should have made it so that it immediately kills the application and pop up an error message with the text: "The application $xyz is misbehaving and must be terminated! Call the company who produced this crap and tell them it is 2010 and not 1995!" This would have solved the whole problem within less than 1 week.

Haha, I never thought of that. I'll do it on my next update.

This is BS.

At the WIFI layer it is not known how many TCP connections you have, this physical layer is completely ignorant to this abstract high-level information, just as ignorant as piece of copper wire.

You didn't talk to the tech support. With the first phone call you always only reach the first level where they try to put you off as fast as possible. There you only talk to part time working housewives working from their home. They have absolutely no clue. If they don't find the answer to your question in their catalog of 12 answers they simply make up an answer on their own (probably after asking their 12 year old son who also has no clue but in contrast to his mother does not even know that he has no clue).

For calls to the tech support you must always use the right escalation strategies to directly break through the first few support levels.

For the wifi problem: You could try changing the channel. It is possible that there are interferences with other wifi equipment near your house on the same channel.

My 2 cents...

Try using this webpage: http://tools.meraki.com/stumbler

It tells you the number of access points that your computer can see, and more importantly, the channel those access points are on. I use it when I am in my school's dorms and trying to improve the ability for me to stream live TV from the TV tuner in my dorm to anywhere on campus where I have a wifi signal.

As for 7bit's remarks on tech support, some bits are exaggerated, but otherwise he's right on the mark. They're relatively useless. Instead, you should look for solutions on various forums.

Hi 7bit,
I tried changing the channel. In fact, that's what the tech support told me to do (yes, it was tech support, I don't live in a country where companies have millions of clients and so it is pretty easy to get to mid-level experts and eventually, the real experts; in any case, I'm not here to argue over that). Long story short, it didn't work. I've tried changing the channels numerous times and it didn't help. The techies told me that where I live, all channels (expect channel 11 of 11) are all clear. FYI, I live in the countryside in a small village where there aren't a lot of teenagers using the net for torrents/porn, which means that there isn't a lot of traffic around here (my personal experience confirms that).

You mentioned other wifi connections. There aren't any in at least a 400 meter radius and our wifi is encrypted anyway.

BTW. I'm still battling the wifi. I found the MT4 files and their size is OK. Something else must be causing it. I might have to do a format C. Already making backups...

I once had problems with my microwave oven breaking my (already weak) wifi connection everytime I turned it on to make a cup of hot water for some instant coffee.

If there is no interference and the distance between the devices is not too far and there are no thick walls between them the connection should not break, no matter how much you transfer over it. I can copy dozens of gigabytes around between my laptop and the PC via the cheap T-Com wireless DSL router for hours without any interruption.

If it does not work then something is broken. If they tell you that it is normal to lose the connection when you have many connections or it is full moon or something similar then let me tell you: this is a cheap excuse, wifi devices don't work this way, they don't care about the number of your connections, they even must not care about this at all. If they do they are broken. Some cheap devices might already be broken by design but this does not mean that this is normal. Normal is that it works, otherwise it is simply broken.

Try searching forums for other users with identical devices and similar symptoms.

7bit,

Thanks for your advice. I think I'm going forward with format C (also reading forums). Format C is something that I know works most of the time. I'm not doing format C only because of the wifi connection - my laptop has also gotten awfully slow (I've tried all the normal 'remedies') and I'm beginning to think that it the wifi connectivity issue might have to do something with my laptop. In any case, I'll keep on trying.

PS. Even though my laptop is slow, I'm still able to run MT4 and trade.

Hi 7bit and others who helped me,

I don't know if this is of any interest to you, but I made a complete cleanup and it didn't help. The upside is that now I have everything backed up on USB flash drives in case something breaks (I used to make backups before, but I only backed up the most important things). It now appears that the problem is stemming from my wifi card or the driver for it. I messed around with it for quite some time. It turns out that this is a very common problem with the Intel Pro wifi card that I have (3945abg). It's still not working, though. I plan on getting some help with that. Why can't they make stuff that doesn't brake every now and then?