What is an "old tick" and why does it occur?

[Jason Rogers]

Old tick means that the price for a currency pair, by the time the price reached your VPS/trading station it was too “old” to consider.

Possible causes:

1. 1. In rare cases it means that the MT4 server is experiencing delays due to a busy trading session. Even in those rare cases, it is more likely to occur with a Demo server than with a Live one.
   
2. 2. It can be caused by a network issue: the quote signal passing from the MT server to the client terminal, is taking too long to arrive at it destination. We can check potential latency between the MT4 servers to the client terminal with a trace route.
   
3. 3. It can be caused by a bad clock-setting on the local machine. If the local clock is incorrect, the MT platform will calculate the age of the received tick incorrectly. Please keep the local clock synchronized - Windows itself can do this (under "Internet Time"), as well as other 3rd party programs.

How can "old tick" affect EA trading?

Some EAs seem to be able to ignore them while others will not function correctly.

Many users report success at clearing the problem with the following:

1. Close all charts.

2. Close MT4 platform.

3. Delete all .hst files from MT4 history folder. This is typically located in the
following folder: C:\Program Files\FXCM MT4 powered by BT\history

4. Re-open MT4 platform.

[Tread]

HI Jason

I have been noticing this alot on the demo server. I have tried the method you suggested but it always comes back up again. as at 3:56AM EST the I am experiencing this problem.

I have noticed it over the past week.

Is anyone on the LIVE server getting this problem also? I was ready to take the plunge and go in a live account,but now I am not so sure.

Can anyone advise on this? Any historical behavior?

[Jason Rogers]

HI Jason

I have been noticing this alot on the demo server. I have tried the method you suggested but it always comes back up again. as at 3:56AM EST the I am experiencing this problem.

I have noticed it over the past week.

Is anyone on the LIVE server getting this problem also? I was ready to take the plunge and go in a live account,but now I am not so sure.

Can anyone advise on this? Any historical behavior?

With very few exceptions, the old tick has no effect on trading. It's doesn't halt trading or stop an order from being executed. The exception is that some EA's will not place a trade if the message is present.

There are two things to consider with this beyond emptying the chart history. The error can also be caused by a bad clock setting on the local machine. If the local clock is incorrect, the MT4 platform will calculate the age of the tick incorrectly. The local clock can be synchronized by opening Date & Time through your Windows Control Panel, and then click on the "Internet Time" tab at the top. There is an option to synchronize the time.

The second thing to consider is any latency between the server and the MT4 terminal on your computer. To measure this, you can do a trace route on the connection using these instructions:

• Open the DOS prompt. To do this, click Start > Run> and type: Cmd. Then press Enter. Note: For Windows Vista and 7 users instead of run it'll be a search box, simply type 'cmd' here and proceed.
• The DOS screen will appear. Type the following exactly as it appears below (with a space after tracert): tracert 204.8.240.1 > file.txt & file.txt Then press Enter. After 10-15 seconds a notepad window will appear.
• If a Security Warning pops up, select OPEN.
• Copy and paste the contents of notepad. Click edit then select all to highlight the data. Then click edit again and then click copy.
• Once the information is copied simply paste it into an e-mail and send it to techsupport@fxcm.com

[sagala2003]

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Regards,
robottradingcerdas.com

[Maica1611]

I want to transfer all the indicators in MT4 MT4 old to new is a simple way how? When I download a new MT4 indicators will be lost the old me very confused. If me now to do from the beginning is very annoying complex.

[A.Gettinger]

Will you install a new MT4 or copy it?