Ways to make NinjaTrader run faster, which in turn makes BloodHound and BlackBird run faster.
NinjaTrader’s recommendations
NinjaTrader keeps a detailed list of performance tips. The first several matter most, and these have the biggest effect on BloodHound and BlackBird:
- Calculate On price change or On bar close, not On each tick, unless an indicator needs every tick (volume or tick counting, for example).
- Load fewer days on charts and Market Analyzer columns, especially with tick-based data series.
- Use Tick Replay only when an indicator needs it, that is, when it needs the exact sequence of trades.
- Reset your simulation accounts now and then to clear their history and shrink NinjaTrader’s database. This one matters most for BlackBird and Raven.
Computer hardware
CPU speed is critical to NinjaTrader’s performance. See the CPU section of the Computer Selection Guide.
Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive is known to lock files in NinjaTrader’s folder (Documents\NinjaTrader 8\), causing crashes and slowdowns. Exclude the NinjaTrader 8 folder from OneDrive. Microsoft’s OneDrive help explains how to choose which folders sync.
Antivirus software
Antivirus software with real-time protection (scanning files as they’re used), such as Norton, McAfee, Bitdefender and Microsoft Defender, is known to slow NinjaTrader down and cause memory problems. Most let you add NinjaTrader’s folders to an exclusion (exception) list so they aren’t scanned in real time, which usually makes NinjaTrader much faster. Exclude:
- NinjaTrader’s program folder, usually
C:\Program Files\NinjaTrader 8\ - its documents folder,
Documents\NinjaTrader 8\
Your antivirus vendor’s support can show you how.
Norton
A customer sent us these steps; contact Norton support if you need help. Menu names change between Norton versions.
- Open Settings, then Antivirus and its Scans and Risks tab, and find Items to Exclude from Auto-Protect, SONAR and Download Intelligence Detection.
- Click Configure (or Add) and choose Folders.
- Select NinjaTrader’s folders (above).
- Click Apply and OK.
Bitdefender
Customers have found Bitdefender causes memory problems with NinjaTrader and BloodHound, and one reported that it kept interfering even with NinjaTrader excluded, until they uninstalled it. Try excluding NinjaTrader’s folders first.