Moving the NT8 My Documents folder

[NinjaTrader_BrandonH]

Hi 2inthebush,

Thanks for your note.

I have added your vote for this feature request.

Let me know if I may assist further.

[2inthebush]

Please add my vote for request SFT-1740

[NinjaTrader_Kate]

Hello IsaacBillion,

Thank you for your note.

I have added a vote for you to SFT-1740.

As with all feature requests, interest is tracked before implementation is considered, so we cannot offer an ETA or promise of fulfillment. If implemented, it will be noted in the Release Notes page of the Help Guide.

Release Notes — https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...ease_notes.htm

Please let us know if we may be of further assistance to you.

[IsaacBillion]

The ID for this request is SFT-1740. You may reference this ID in the future regarding this matter. If implemented, this would also list in the NinjaTrader Help Guide release notes (Help > Help > Release Notes).

Let us know if we may assist further.

Please add my vote +++1
I must say I'm surprised this basic feature of every software is not implemented yet.
Very strange!
Please add it ASAP.
Thanks.
Isaac.

[Vendor_NT_Mobile]

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Just wanted to say, I have used mklink "directory symbolic links" and it has worked for me.

I have all my windows user folders on a separate mechanical HDD, and I have windows installed on an NVMe drive (Samsung 970 Pro). The problem I faced was that I wanted my NT8 data folder to take advantage of my NVMe drive but the folder was placed on the slow HDD.

So I made a "directory symbolic link" on the HDD that points to the data residing on my NVMe drive. Below is quick n dirty explanation. Check out youtube for further info (search "directory symbolic link windows 10"). Mine situation was the inverse of below, I moved mine from D: to C: because my D: housed my windows users folder but windows was installed to my C: (which was much faster).

Let's assume your current data folder is "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\NinjaTrader 8" and you want the data to reside on a separate drive D:, let's say at "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8". Also, let's assume your installation of NT8 created a backup folder called "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\NinjaTrader 8 Backup" and you want to move this to "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8 Backup".

First, check the "used space" on your C: drive and your D: drive; write both down. We will revisit this info later to make sure it worked correctly.

Second, make sure NT8 is closed down and not running.

Third, move both the "NinjaTrader 8" folder and the "NinjaTrader 8 Backup" from the C: drive to the D: drive, under the MyData folder. Cut it and paste it, not copy and paste. Don't leave the data behind on the C: drive. So now, all of your NT8 data is located at "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8" and "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8 Backup". No NT8 user data remains on the C: drive; although, the NT8 application itself is still installed on the C:, likely in the Program Files folder or wherever. I'm only talking about the user data.

Fourth, open a command prompt "as administrator." If you don't know how to do this, hit the windows key, type "command prompt", and you should see something that says "Command Prompt App" and "Run as Administrator." Click on run as administrator. If this doesn't work, watch youtube on how to run a command prompt as administrator. If you still can't figure it out, try harder.

Fifth, run the following two commands in the command prompt window:

mklink /d /h "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\NinjaTrader 8" "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8"
mklink /d /h "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\NinjaTrader 8 Backup" "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8 Backup"

Notice the "/d" option, which means directory symbolic link, rather than file symbolic link. The /h makes it a hard link, which isn't necessary 99% of the time, but it could theoretically be necessary. If you have a problem, then re-run these without the /h and see if that fixes the problem.

Sixth, run NT8 and hope everything starts up properly. It worked for me.

Seventh, check the used space on C: and D: drives again, to make sure the C: drive has been reduced and the D: has increased both by the appropriate amounts. If NT8 works fine and the used space has changed for both drives by the proper amount, then you know you're good to go.

Eight, if you want to remove the symlinks in the future, go to "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents" and delete the "NinjaTrader 8" and "NinjaTrader 8 Backup" files...actually they aren't files (or directories/folders), they are symlinks. So just delete them, and move your folders back from the D: drive to the correct location on the C: drive.

Use at your own risk. If you bork it up, it's your responsibility.

EDIT: If the programmers added a feature to client terminal to do this, that would be the better solution than what I have described. But, to my knowledge, such a feature does not exist. I can't even remember if NT8 asked you to choose the location when you install it. If it does, then your other alternative is to just backup your user data, uninstall the app, and reinstall with whatever you want set as the location of the user data, then restore your back up to the new location. You should reinstall your operating system from scratch once or twice a year, anyway. I haven't done that enough.

[hurleydood]

bubbazohn
When I install a new version it will overwrite the current symbolic link setup in the Documents folder. So I rename the "NinjaTrader 8" folder created by the installer, run mklink commands and re-run the installer with the repair option. Repair forces the new version to use my symlink setup.

[bubbazohn]

Thanks to tony.ioc for getting me started down the mklink path!

However, the /h parameter appears to be for a file symlink rather than a directory symlink. I used the directory hard link "/j" because the softlink, "/d" , disappeared on the next NT8 update installation. The NT update deleted the symlink and installed the update files were installed in C: documents.

[danalec]

add my vote for SFT-1740 please

[tony.ioc]

Use mklink.
The NT8 folder in My Documents will be a simple link, it won't use any disk space, and all the data will be somewhere else (D: drive or whatever).

Just wanted to say, I have used mklink "directory symbolic links" and it has worked for me.

I have all my windows user folders on a separate mechanical HDD, and I have windows installed on an NVMe drive (Samsung 970 Pro). The problem I faced was that I wanted my NT8 data folder to take advantage of my NVMe drive but the folder was placed on the slow HDD.

So I made a "directory symbolic link" on the HDD that points to the data residing on my NVMe drive. Below is quick n dirty explanation. Check out youtube for further info (search "directory symbolic link windows 10"). Mine situation was the inverse of below, I moved mine from D: to C: because my D: housed my windows users folder but windows was installed to my C: (which was much faster).

Let's assume your current data folder is "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\NinjaTrader 8" and you want the data to reside on a separate drive D:, let's say at "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8". Also, let's assume your installation of NT8 created a backup folder called "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\NinjaTrader 8 Backup" and you want to move this to "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8 Backup".

First, check the "used space" on your C: drive and your D: drive; write both down. We will revisit this info later to make sure it worked correctly.

Second, make sure NT8 is closed down and not running.

Third, move both the "NinjaTrader 8" folder and the "NinjaTrader 8 Backup" from the C: drive to the D: drive, under the MyData folder. Cut it and paste it, not copy and paste. Don't leave the data behind on the C: drive. So now, all of your NT8 data is located at "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8" and "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8 Backup". No NT8 user data remains on the C: drive; although, the NT8 application itself is still installed on the C:, likely in the Program Files folder or wherever. I'm only talking about the user data.

Fourth, open a command prompt "as administrator." If you don't know how to do this, hit the windows key, type "command prompt", and you should see something that says "Command Prompt App" and "Run as Administrator." Click on run as administrator. If this doesn't work, watch youtube on how to run a command prompt as administrator. If you still can't figure it out, try harder.

Fifth, run the following two commands in the command prompt window:

mklink /d /h "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\NinjaTrader 8" "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8"
mklink /d /h "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\NinjaTrader 8 Backup" "D:\MyData\NinjaTrader 8 Backup"

Notice the "/d" option, which means directory symbolic link, rather than file symbolic link. The /h makes it a hard link, which isn't necessary 99% of the time, but it could theoretically be necessary. If you have a problem, then re-run these without the /h and see if that fixes the problem.

Sixth, run NT8 and hope everything starts up properly. It worked for me.

Seventh, check the used space on C: and D: drives again, to make sure the C: drive has been reduced and the D: has increased both by the appropriate amounts. If NT8 works fine and the used space has changed for both drives by the proper amount, then you know you're good to go.

Eight, if you want to remove the symlinks in the future, go to "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents" and delete the "NinjaTrader 8" and "NinjaTrader 8 Backup" files...actually they aren't files (or directories/folders), they are symlinks. So just delete them, and move your folders back from the D: drive to the correct location on the C: drive.

Use at your own risk. If you bork it up, it's your responsibility.

EDIT: If the programmers added a feature to client terminal to do this, that would be the better solution than what I have described. But, to my knowledge, such a feature does not exist. I can't even remember if NT8 asked you to choose the location when you install it. If it does, then your other alternative is to just backup your user data, uninstall the app, and reinstall with whatever you want set as the location of the user data, then restore your back up to the new location. You should reinstall your operating system from scratch once or twice a year, anyway. I haven't done that enough.

[NinjaTrader_EricB]

The ID for this request is SFT-1740. You may reference this ID in the future regarding this matter. If implemented, this would also list in the NinjaTrader Help Guide release notes (Help > Help > Release Notes).

Let us know if we may assist further.

Hello,

Thank you for your post.

There is no update or change at this time. However, I can certainly forward a note on your behalf to our development team so interest in this is tracked for future feature consideration.

Let us know if we may assist further.

[sam028]

Hello,

I'd like to move the NT8 folder in My Documents (I believe it's the settings and indicators). By default it goes into the C drive, which is, in my case, reserved for system files only. THe folder is quite large (12.5 GB). It nearly filled up the whole drive and it's causing me some problems.
Is there a way to do that?

Cheers

Use mklink.
The NT8 folder in My Documents will be a simple link, it won't use any disk space, and all the data will be somewhere else (D: drive or whatever).

[NinjaTrader_EricB]

Hello,

Thank you for your post.

There is no update or change at this time. However, I can certainly forward a note on your behalf to our development team so interest in this is tracked for future feature consideration.

Let us know if we may assist further.

[dvirant]

Hello,

I'd like to move the NT8 folder in My Documents (I believe it's the settings and indicators). By default it goes into the C drive, which is, in my case, reserved for system files only. THe folder is quite large (12.5 GB). It nearly filled up the whole drive and it's causing me some problems.
Is there a way to do that?

Cheers