Example of Microsoft One Drive trashing my NT8 dev session.

[brownbrenda]

I see this issue with OneDrive goes back to at least 2021. It is still not resolved really??? I just updated my NinjaTrader, when I first installed it I did not have the windows OneDrive update but when I updated NinjaTrader I did have the windows update so now I can't use NinjaTrader. If you ask support for help they direct you to Microsoft???? Really, you think Microsoft is going to help me? With so many different trading platforms, it would be in NinjaTraders best interest to fix this. I need help with this! I have tried all the ideas....I even uninstalled OneDrive but NinjaTrader will not stop defaulting under OneDrive. If I try to open the platform it crashes. I am paying data fees every month and I can't use the platform.

[NinjaTrader_BrandonH]

Hello brownbrenda,

Thanks for your notes.

NinjaTrader should not be used with OneDrive as you will see file access violations and other issues when OneDrive tries to sync files to the cloud.

Please move your Documents folder to your local hard drive on your PC using the following instructions:

• Completely close NinjaTrader
• Hover your mouse over the OneDrive icon (the cloud) in the App Tray
• Right click and select Settings
• Locate the 'Backup' tab
• Under the 'Documents' Folder, select 'Stop backup'

After stopping the backup, you will need to copy the NinjaTrader 8 folder from the original OneDrive Documents location onto the local PC.

• Go to your Documents folder
• Locate the 'Where are my files' icon
• Right click and select 'Open in new window'
• Locate the NinjaTrader 8 folder from within the OneDrive location
• Copy and paste the entire NinjaTrader 8 folder into the documents folder on your local hard drive

It is best to have one window open with the OneDrive documents location and one window open with the local PC documents location to achieve this.

Once you have moved all of the NinjaTrader 8 files over, you will need to do a 'soft reinstall of NinjaTrader Desktop.

• In the search field on your Windows taskbar, type Control Panel and select this app
• Select Programs > Programs and Features
• Locate NinjaTrader in the list, right click, and select uninstall

Once these steps are completed, download and install NinjaTrader Desktop by logging in to your user dashboard with the following link:

https://account.ninjatrader.com

After you log in, please click the Download button in the bottom left corner and click the Download button on the Desktop Application Download page.

[QuantKey_Bruce]

You should check out this thread also: https://forum.ninjatrader.com/forum/...etect-onedrive

[brownbrenda]

Thank you Brandon H.!! I will try this. I have been working for 3 weeks on this. Very frustrated. I had no idea that OneDrive was like this.

[brownbrenda]

NinjaTrader already shows up in my C drive under documents. I uninstalled OneDrive but if you look at properties on the documents under the Desktop, the path is still mapping to OneDrive. If I already have NinjaTrader on the C drive, wont there be duplicates then?

[brownbrenda]

I meant to include this pic.

[NinjaTrader_BrandonH]

Hello brownbrenda,

Thanks for your notes.

It seems that you might be confusing the Program Files directory with the Documents directory in the picture you shared.

Uninstalling OneDrive only removes the app from the PC but it does not remap the Documents folder. You would need to manually remap the Documents folder if you are completely disabling OneDrive from being used.

Otherwise, you could leave this as is as long as OneDrive isn't syncing the Documents folder anymore.

See post # 3 on this forum thread for a link outlining how to remap the Documents folder.

If you manually remap the Documents folder, note to open NinjaTrader, open a New > NinjaScript Editor window, and run a compile to check for errors since remapping the Documents folder could cause NinjaScript references errors that would need to be resolved.

[brownbrenda]

Hey Brandon, yes I am confused about the whole thing lol....if I understand correctly, I need to remap where NinjaTrader is under OneDrive correct? It is already on my C drive also. I guess that is part of why I am confused. I do have syncing paused right now but obviously since the path name still have OneDrive in it, that doesn't solve the issue.

[brownbrenda]

My pc already was set for new apps to save to the C drive?

[NinjaTrader_BrandonH]

Hello brownbrenda,

Thanks for your notes.

After further investigation, no you do not have to remap the Documents folder since you uninstalled OneDrive from your PC.

As long as OneDrive is uninstalled, the issue should be resolved and you should be okay without remapping the Documents folder.

Note that sometimes the Documents folder will remap after a restart of your PC and in this case, you would need to uninstall and re-install NinjaTrader using the steps below.

• Close all running applications.
• Navigate to your Documents folder > Right click on the 'NinjaTrader 8' folder > Rename > rename the folder to 'NinjaTrader 8 OLD'. DO NOT delete this folder.
• Uninstall NinjaTrader within Windows Control Panel.
• Navigate to C:\ > Program File (x86) > Delete the 'NinjaTrader 8' folder if it exists
• Reboot your PC.
• Once these steps are completed, download and install NT8 from the link below.
  • account.ninjatrader.com
• Once reinstalled, you will now have 2 NinjaTrader folders in your Documents, the old one and the new one. Open two file explorer windows and open the new one in one and the old one in another.
• Drag the following items from the old folder to the new one (folders should automatically merge)
  • Config.xml and UI.xml
  • Workspaces folder (if it asks to overwrite the _Workspaces.xml file, say yes)
  • Templates folder (if it asks to overwrite anything, say no)
  • db folder (you can overwrite any files in here)
  • bin folder (do not overwrite ANY duplicate files).
• Once complete, restart NinjaTrader. You may get a few initial errors. Open a NinjaScript Editor and run a compile, then, if no additional errors are received, restart NinjaTrader.

[brownbrenda]

even after I uninstalled OneDrive, NinjaTrader still maps to OneDrive. Uninstalling it does not change that. I even installed NinjaTrader and made sure all old files were deleted and it still maps to OneDrive.

[NinjaTrader_BrandonH]

Hello brownbrenda,

Thanks for your note.

As long as you have uninstalled OneDrive the issue should be resolved and you do not need to remap any folders as previously stated.

If you restart your PC and open NinjaTrader, do you see any error messages appear? If so, what exactly do they report?

Send a screenshot of the error message by following the steps below.

• To send a screenshot with Windows 10 or newer I would recommend using the Windows Snipping Tool.
  • Click here for instructions
• Alternatively to send a screenshot press Alt + PRINT SCREEN to take a screenshot of the selected window. Then go to Start--> Accessories--> Paint, and press CTRL + V to paste the image. Lastly, save it as a jpeg file and send the file as an attachment.
  • Click here for detailed instruction

[carnitron]

So I just had to go through this process again on a new Windows 11 PC (with W11 24H2 on it), and want to get the exact steps down this time for my own future reference, and for everyone else's benefit as well.

Here is a new, tightened set of steps:

1. Deinstall OneDrive.
2. To be safe, make a system restore point or backup your registry.
3. Open RegEdit.
4. Go to "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft \Win dows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders".
5. Change the "Personal" item from a OneDrive path like:
   C:\Users\carni_bwhh9rm\OneDrive\Documents
   to some local folder of your own that OneDrive isn't using, like:
   C:\Documents.
6. Do the same with the OTHER key in this same RegEdit folder that also points to the same OneDrive Documents path as the one you just changed. This other key has a GUID as its name, not something human-readable.
7. Use Task Manager to restart the Windows Explorer task.
8. Install NinjaTrader.
9. Confirm that the "NinjaTrader 8" folder is in your custom folder, like "C:\Documents".
10. Go back to RegEdit and return the two above keys to their initial OneDrive-compliant values.
11. Go to Task Manager and restart the Windows Explorer process.
12. Reinstall OneDrive.
13. Go back to RegEdit and return ONLY the "Personal" key to your custom folder.
14. Go to Task Manager and restart the Windows Explorer process.

Now you can use NinjaTrader and OneDrive together!

[carnitron]

As an aside, once again, I think requiring customers to go through this madness every time they install NinjaTrader 8 on a new machine, is -- and I am being diplomatic here -- highly unusual. It's like telling people they have to deinstall Microsoft Office in order to use your product. Why? No one does this, and I've never experienced another software company or product requiring this kind of thing from their customers.

On the latest version of Windows 11, there is no turning off syncing or backing up the Documents folder in OneDrive. It seems like the only option for the average NinjaTrader 8 user is to require them to permanently deinstall and not ever use OneDrive on that machine.

Can someone from NinjaTrader explain WHY it has to be this way?

Why can't NinjaTrader let people configure a custom folder?

It's just that one key "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft \Win dow\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\Personal" that matters at runtime. This seems like it should be a very low-cost fix.

Make it make sense!