data storage and use from external HD

[gabriele]

Hi,
following some issues in the past, I have now copied my ticked data to an external hard drive.
I have 2 questions:
1) is it possible to download new data directly to the external hard drive, instead of using the default route to the pc hard drive?

2) once the data is stored on the external hard drive, what needs to be done to make sure that MT4 to uses the data stored on the external hard drive?

many thanks in advance

Gabriele

[tickstory]

Hi Gabriele,

I'm not sure we have identified the original issue that you mention from the post:

http://www.tickstory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=298

If you are still trying to resolve this issue, then appreciate if you could follow up on this post.

But to answer your questions as best as possible:

1) is it possible to download new data directly to the external hard drive, instead of using the default route to the pc hard drive?

There are two types of data that Tickstory writes to your system and I'm not sure which one you are referring to, so let's answer it for both cases.
1) Dukascopy data: This is downloaded to the location you nominate in the File->Settings->Dukascopy store location folder. You should have no issues specifying an external HDD.
2) The MT4 export: This is downloaded to your MT4 folder location. If you have selected an MT4 installation folder on your external HDD via File->Settings->MT4 Installation then again, there should be no issue.

2) once the data is stored on the external hard drive, what needs to be done to make sure that MT4 to uses the data stored on the external hard drive?

First point is obviously make sure your external HDD is accessible and unmounted in a proper manner, otherwise you are likely to lose data.

For Tickstory to use the Dukascopy data, nothing special needs to be done.

For MT4, as previously mentioned, make sure your FXT files are marked as read-only.

Hope this helps.

[gabriele]

Hi,
thanks for the reply.
http://www.tickstory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=298
I have never managed to figure out what has happen with the issue on the above link.
While the box (export as read only) is ticked in the dialog window at the start of the download process, I have noticed that on around 50% of cases the files are not exported as read-only. (I am on vista professional)
As a result, following every new download, I manually go and change the attributes of the files, manually, to read only in the MT4 folders
I also back up my data to an external HD straight after a download.
The above process is not ideal, but is always better than arriving in the morning to find out that 100 GB of data have disappeared.

About the current post, so far I have backed up all my HST and FXT files.
I didn’t know I had Dukascopy data, I will look for it and back it up as well.
(how inadequate can I be?)

I don’t have an MT4 installation folder on my HDD, and to be honest I don’t even know what an MT4 installation folder is 

Al I know. is that in my HDD I have created 2 folders, called them HST and FXT and copied the relevant files there.
There was no loss of data during the transfer process.

So forgive my ignorance but I still don’t get how to “tell” MT4 to use the data from my HDD instead of reading it from my pc.

Unrelated to the above issue, I have also noticed that if I download a set of data that should attach to existing data, my original file is deleted and I am left with my new download.
For the sake of clarity, if I have a file for the whole of 2012 ,and I then decide to download 2011, after this download I am left with only the 2011 data.
This has happened both with the override existing files box ticked and unchecked.

Kind regards,

Gabriele

[tickstory]

Hi Gabriele,

The MT4 installation directory is where you have installed your Metatrader. It is the folder you select when going to Tickstory File->Settings->MT4 Settings. If you are wanting to move this directory to your external HDD then you should be able to, however this may depend on your Metatrader version. Metatrader should automatically look for the FXT and HST files based on the directory from which the application is launched.

Regards.

[gabriele]

hi, thanks for your reply.
I understand the dukascopy data export directory.
When we move to MT4 i am lost.
Do you suggest I should have a copy of MT4+tickstory on my HDD?

I still don't understand if the data that is stored on my HDD can be used by the MT4 installed on my C drive.
And if the above is possible what, do I have to do in order to make sure that MT4 is using the external data.

also in my previous post I had included the following issue:

"Unrelated to the above issue, I have also noticed that if I download a set of data that should attach to existing data, my original file is deleted and I am left with my new download.
For the sake of clarity, if I have a file for the whole of 2012 ,and I then decide to download 2011, after this download I am left with only the 2011 data.
This has happened both with the override existing files box ticked and unchecked."

Any help on the above will also be gratefully appreciated

best regards,

Gabriele

[tickstory]

Hi Gabriele,

MT4 will only work if the entire directory structure is copied over to your external HDD. That is, if your MT4 installation is currently in C:\Program Files\Metatrader then you will need to move the entire structure over to your HDD so it appears as (for example) G:\Metatrader. Of course, all your Start Menu links will need to be changed if you are going to move the folder over in this way. The other option is to install a new copy of MT4 on your external HDD (G:\Metatrader in this example).

Underneath the G:\Metatrader folder will be all the usual folders including "experts", "tester" and so forth - including all your HST and FXT files. MT4 will find the data simply by looking for the folders & data underneath the directory structure from which the application was launched.

Regarding your issue, it's not entirely clear what data you are "downloading". Are you talking about exporting this information to MT4? If so, when you export a certain date range, this creates a file only for that date range. If you create another export in the same MT4 installation for a different date range, it will overwrite your last export with the new date range you have specified.

Hope this helps.

[gabriele]

thanks for your reply.

I will try to install a copy of MT4 on my external HDD.

On the downloading issue:
let say that have exported from tickstory to MT4 the data of one currency pair for 2012.
Subsequently I wish to export from Tickstory to MT4 all the data on the same currency pair for 2013.
One would expect the new export to go and collate to the existing fxt file, so that I could have both 2012-2013 in one file.
However if I tick the box "overwrite existing file" on the export to MT4 dialog box, my 2012 data is replaced by the 2013 data.
My 2012 data is gone!
If instead the "overwrite existing file" box is unchecked, the export will fail and I get a message saying that a file with that name already exist.

I hope the above clarifies.

kind regards,

Gabriele

[tickstory]

Hi Gabriele,

As per the last post, when you export a date range it is not cumulative - it is an absolute date range. The 'overwrite' option is there only to prevent you from inadvertently overwriting an existing file that you may have wished to keep.

Regards.