My MT4 platform was 'sputtering' all the time, little freezes for a few seconds at a time (with hourglass mouse) that i would just have to wait out. I only had 8 charts open and a few simple indicators on each chart. I did some research this weekend and put together a list of some things that helped streamline Windows (XP) for me. Feel free to add to the list if you have a quality tip. Hope this helps.
Before i get into it the Windows tweaks let me say that there are a few things you can do within MT4 as well, notably:
- limiting the number of bars/chart (see Tools/Options/Charts)
- limiting the number of overall bars (same)
-CTRL-M to bring up Market Watch, right-click, select 'Hide All' (my broker says this is very important for saving bandwidth)
-Check your 'Experts' tab in the Terminal and look for any kind of 'errors'
Things you can do to save system resources under Windows XP (and probably other Windows versions):
1. Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter
- Defrag each of your hard drives. Once every week or two. Not while trading...
2. Ctrl Panel/System/Advanced tab/Performace ->Adjust for best performance
- Minimizes visual effects, will streamline the look & feel of your system, probably make it run & feel faster.
3. You can turn off System Restore to increase performance. However keep in mind that this service can be a lifeline to getting your system running again after say, a botched Windows upgrade or other major installation problem. So disable at your own risk. Tip: You can turn it off on a per-drive basis.
i personally keep in ON on the C drive, and off on other drives. For instructions,
see Black Viper's excellent page at http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/supertweaks.htm
4. Drive Indexing. The census takers, Scanning your drives in the background, keeping records of file info. Useful when you go to search for a file, but can tie up resources at other times. Another trade off depending on how many drives you're running, and how fast they are, etc. See Mr. Black Viper again for more info.
5. Simply reboot once in a while, sometimes helps to get the gunk out.
6. Check Scheduled Tasks for anything that may be scheduled to run at inopportune times. Change the scheduled time of anything set to interrupt your critical trading hours.
7. I notice that Web browser tabs take up a lot of memory....reduce the number of windows & tabs open at one time.
8. Be vigilant about keeping your system clean of any apps that might do things 'on their own' at times of their choosing, running in the background. Oftentimes these apps are not visible except in Windows services (Start/Run/services.msc) or even in more surreptitious places. Listen for hard drive activity when you're not doing anything active with the machine, and try to find the cause.
9. Avoid Windows Themes, and fancy visual & mouse effects, and the like.
10. while on the topic of system optimization.... please let me try to convince you to BACKUP your important data. Experienced computer users run backups for a good reason--because they have all been burned in the past by lost data, and it set them back, and they know now that it is well worth running the backups. If you need a backup tool, Microsoft has an excellent tool call SyncToy. It can even run on a schedule (with a tweak found in its Help file). http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
11. Black Viper's page on Windows 'services' (see his site) is also great for those who are comfortable delving a little deeper. Disabling unneeded services can really help keep the machine from doing all kinds of stuff in the background while you're trying to work. But you have to be careful- if you disable a needed service, you could really mess up your system. some of them are obvious though (like say, ClipBook. if you don't use it, you can turn it off here in Start-Run-services.msc).
Happy servicing !
Before i get into it the Windows tweaks let me say that there are a few things you can do within MT4 as well, notably:
- limiting the number of bars/chart (see Tools/Options/Charts)
- limiting the number of overall bars (same)
-CTRL-M to bring up Market Watch, right-click, select 'Hide All' (my broker says this is very important for saving bandwidth)
-Check your 'Experts' tab in the Terminal and look for any kind of 'errors'
Things you can do to save system resources under Windows XP (and probably other Windows versions):
1. Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter
- Defrag each of your hard drives. Once every week or two. Not while trading...
2. Ctrl Panel/System/Advanced tab/Performace ->Adjust for best performance
- Minimizes visual effects, will streamline the look & feel of your system, probably make it run & feel faster.
3. You can turn off System Restore to increase performance. However keep in mind that this service can be a lifeline to getting your system running again after say, a botched Windows upgrade or other major installation problem. So disable at your own risk. Tip: You can turn it off on a per-drive basis.
i personally keep in ON on the C drive, and off on other drives. For instructions,
see Black Viper's excellent page at http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/supertweaks.htm
4. Drive Indexing. The census takers, Scanning your drives in the background, keeping records of file info. Useful when you go to search for a file, but can tie up resources at other times. Another trade off depending on how many drives you're running, and how fast they are, etc. See Mr. Black Viper again for more info.
5. Simply reboot once in a while, sometimes helps to get the gunk out.
6. Check Scheduled Tasks for anything that may be scheduled to run at inopportune times. Change the scheduled time of anything set to interrupt your critical trading hours.
7. I notice that Web browser tabs take up a lot of memory....reduce the number of windows & tabs open at one time.
8. Be vigilant about keeping your system clean of any apps that might do things 'on their own' at times of their choosing, running in the background. Oftentimes these apps are not visible except in Windows services (Start/Run/services.msc) or even in more surreptitious places. Listen for hard drive activity when you're not doing anything active with the machine, and try to find the cause.
9. Avoid Windows Themes, and fancy visual & mouse effects, and the like.
10. while on the topic of system optimization.... please let me try to convince you to BACKUP your important data. Experienced computer users run backups for a good reason--because they have all been burned in the past by lost data, and it set them back, and they know now that it is well worth running the backups. If you need a backup tool, Microsoft has an excellent tool call SyncToy. It can even run on a schedule (with a tweak found in its Help file). http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
11. Black Viper's page on Windows 'services' (see his site) is also great for those who are comfortable delving a little deeper. Disabling unneeded services can really help keep the machine from doing all kinds of stuff in the background while you're trying to work. But you have to be careful- if you disable a needed service, you could really mess up your system. some of them are obvious though (like say, ClipBook. if you don't use it, you can turn it off here in Start-Run-services.msc).
Happy servicing !
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