Migrate Ninja Trader 7 to another computer with Ninja Trader 8 and Windows 10

[Kiwi Girl]

Is it possible to migrate Ninja Trader 7 to another computer with Ninja Trader 8 and Windows 10?

[NinjaTrader_JustinD]

Hello Kiwi Girl,

Thank you for your message.


Backing Up NinjaTrader 7 From One Computer to Another

The following instructions will explain how to backup your NinjaTrader files to a second computer.

Please note that the following list is the items you can choose to include or exclude from your backup (Configuration files, Database, Historical Chart Data, Log and Trace files, Market Replay Data, NinjaScript Files, Templates, Workspaces). Many users exclude the historical chart data, log and trace files, and Market Replay data to reduce the file size.

You will need to contact any 3rd party vendors and let them know that your machine ID has changed. You can locate the new machine ID by the following:

• Control Center > Help > About... (e.g. Machine ID: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)

Follow these steps:

• Open NinjaTrader 7 on the computer you wish to backup from and disconnect from any open connections if applicable
• Go to File > Utilities > Backup...
• Select which items you would like to backup and click 'Run Backup'
• Email or Save the file to an external storage device. The file can be found in the Documents\NinjaTrader Backup folder on your PC

Open NinjaTrader 7 on the computer you wish to restore to and disconnect from any open connections if applicable.

• Open the email with the backup file or connect the external storage and save the backup file to a destination of your choosing (I recommend the desktop as it is easy to find)
• Go to File > Utilities > Restore...
• Select the backup file you created from the location you saved it

I have also attached the publicly available Help Guide section and YouTube tutorial regarding backup and restore below:

Help Guide - https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...p__restore.htm

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGCp9ebpV1M


Migrating from NinjaTrader 7 to 8

Once you have migrated your NinjaTrader 7 information from one computer to another, you will be able to migrate that information into a new installation of NinjaTrader 8 on that same computer.

NinjaTrader 7 and 8 may run side-by-side, however, they run independently from one another and cannot speak to each other when placing trades and working strategies due to being separate programs.

Please keep in mind that you will not be able to log into the same account and use the same live License Key on both platforms at the same time.

Here are some links that go into more detail on the differences between NinjaTrader 7 and 8:

NinjaTrader 8 Migration Guide
What's New in NinjaTrader 8?
What's New in Ninjatrader 8 — Help Guide
NinjaTrader 7 Help Guide— for comparison


Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

[Kiwi Girl]

Thanks for the prompt resopnse Justin. I don't currently have Ninja Trader (7 or 8) installed on the new computer (the one with windows 10). Can I install Ninja Trader 7 on windows 10? Or does it have to be Ninja Trader 8? And in the latter case can I install Ninja Trader 8 and restore the Ninja Trader 7 backup to it?

[NinjaTrader_JustinD]

Hello Kiwi Girl,

Thank you for your response.

You will be able to use either NinjaTrader 7 or 8 on Windows 10 as they are both supported, so it will be totally up to you for which one you would like to use. You will not be able to import a NinjaTrader 7 backup in NinjaTrader 8, so I recommend downloading 7 on your new computer first if you would like to transfer the information possible into NinjaTrader 8 after that.

You may download both NinjaTrader 7 and 8 from this link here: NinjaTrader Direct Download

[Kiwi Girl]

Ok so I backed up my entire ninja 7, installed ninja 7 on the other (windows 10) computer and tried to do restore from that. Restore failed with the following message
"NinjaScript files can't be restored since they would corrupt your installation"
No idea what this means. Is there some log file somewhere with more specific information?

[NinjaTrader_JustinD]

Hello Kiwi Girl,

Thank you for your update.


Let's verify that NinjaTrader 7 is updated on both of your computers as different versions may cause this behavior. If you go to the Control Center > Help > About window on both of your computers, the full version number should be 7.0.1000.42. If your old computer is not on this version, please let me know, and I will send you directions to update to the new version.

If you are updated on both, I recommend trying to create a new Backup File with options such as the Log and Trace, Database, and Config files unchecked as they may be the cause of this error message.

Please let me know if you remain unable to backup to your new computer after following the above steps.

[Kiwi Girl]

Thanks Justin. Both versions are 7.0.1000.42. I did another backup as you suggested with Log and Trace, Database, Config unchecked but unfortunately on restore same result as before.

[NinjaTrader_JustinD]

Hello Kiwi Girl,

Thank you for your update.


As another quick test, does this behavior persist if you uncheck 'NinjaScript Files' on your backup and try importing it once more?

[Kiwi Girl]

I did another backup with Log & Trace, Database, Config, NinjaScript unchecked, at first restore didn't do anything at all, after reboot of windows 10 computer the restore was successful but I need the Ninja Script

[NinjaTrader_JustinD]

Hello Kiwi Girl,

Thank you for your update.


Since this backup file did import successfully after a reboot, do any of your others with the NinjaScript Files included do the same?

If not, we can try importing just the NinjaScript files from the backup individually using the following steps:

First, ensure that NinjaTrader is not open
Next, go to the Backup File on your computer
Right-click on it > 7-zip > Extract Files (if 7-zip is not already installed on your computer, I recommend a quick internet search for their publicly-available website as it is a great open-source zip file extraction tool)

All of the files in your Backup File will appear in a new folder that looks identical to the NInjaTrader 7 Documents folder from your old computer.
Next, rename the 'Documents/NinjaTrader 7/bin' folder to 'bin OLD'
Copy and paste the 'bin' folder from your Backup File into the Documents/NinjaTrader 7 folder > restart NinjaTrader 7 to see if it opens successfully or if you encounter any errors.
If it opens successfully, go to Tools > Edit NinjaScript > Indicator > Double-click on any indicator > right-click > Compile to see if everything has been imported successfully.

[Kiwi Girl]

The backup has only a Custom subdirectory underneath bin. The windows 10 installation has Custom, ESignal (just has an empty News subdirectory), Fix (empty), Pats (a few .dll, .csv, .txt files) subdirectories. Should I rename the entire bin subdirectory to binOld and replace with bin from the backup (which is missing ESignal, Fix, Pats subdirectories)? Or should I rename bin\Custom to bin\CustomOld and just copy the Custom subdirectory from the backup?

Comparing the 2 Custom directories returns the following:

base directories - backup has a number of .cs and .dll that don't exist in the installation. ninjatrader.custom.csproj, ninjatrader.vendor.cs, ninjatrader.vendor.dll are identical, ninjatrader.custom.dll, ninjatrader.custom.xml are different
presumably because of the differences below. ninjatrader.custom.xml in the backup contains entries that don't exist in the installation but the reverse is not true. Same for the ninjatrader.custom.dll so presumably the ones in the backup are the ones I should use.

indicator subdirectories - different set of .cs files, installation files all start with @ whereas none of the backup files do. exception is userdefinedmethods.cs which is identical.

MarketAnalyzer and Strategy subdirectories - backup only contains userdefinedmethods.cs which is identical to installation. installation contains additional .cs files all starting with @

Type subdirectories - similar to Indicator subdirectories but no userdefinedmethods.cs in either subdirectory

In addition the installation contains ExportNinjaScript and Tmp subdirectories which are empty

[NinjaTrader_JustinD]

Hello Kiwi Girl,

Thank you for your response.


I recommend renaming the entire 'bin' folder to 'bin old' and replacing it entirely. If you get an error when you restart the platform that way, run a quick repair using the steps below, and it should fill in anything 'stock' that is missing but also include your NinjaScript information as well.

• Shut down NinjaTrader 8
• Go to your computer's Control Panel > Programs & Features (Note: search for 'Control Panel' to find it within the Windows Start Menu. This will be a different window than the Settings page)
• Left-click once on NinjaTrader 8 > select 'Repair' above the list of available programs
• Restart the platform after it finishes repairing, and test for this behavior again.