Trading Articles

How To Install An Expert Advisor

15
May

Written by Donna

Some trading robots come with automatic install packages which you just load to complete an installation. Other robots will require you to install manually, particularly free trading robots. Here is how to complete a simple install of a basic EA file. All that is involved is placing a file in the right place on your computer.

Installation

Download your Expert Advisor. When you download your Expert Advisor, make sure you save it somewhere you can find easily, such as your desktop. Alternatively, you can download it directly into the right place on your computer according to the instructions below. What you need to check if you do this is that your Expert Advisor is in it’s raw format and is NOT a zipped file. If it is a zipped file you will need to unzip it before it will function correctly. 

If your Expert Advisor is “zipped” (shows an image of a zipper on the file ) then you will need to unzip this. In Windows Vista this is done simply by clicking the “extract all” link and then specifying where you want the unzipped files to go to. If you do not have Windows Vista you may need to download an unzipping package like Winzip in order to extract the file(s) into a state you can work with. 

mtsmalllogoNow we need to get the Expert Advisor into your Metatrader. If you do not already have a demo or live account with a Metatrader broker you will need to get one. See here for how to open a demo account. 

Copy your Expert Advisor file. This is the document that ends in “.ex4″ or “.mq4″ NOT the folder itself. Do this by right clicking on the file and clicking “copy”.

Open up “my computer”. This will be located either on your desktop or in the “start” menu (bottom left of your screen). Then open up your harddrive, usually called “C:”. Look for a folder named “program files” and open that. Now search for Metatrader. It could be called “Metatrader” or the file name may start with your broker name, such as “FxOpen-Metatrader”. Either way, locate your Metatrader folder and double click to open it. When you have done this, look for a folder called “experts”. Open this too.

Now, to complete the installation, just right click anywhere inside the experts folder screen and click “paste”. A popup box may appear asking for permission to continue, if it does just click ‘ok’. After a couple of seconds your new Expert Advisor file should show up in the list. You are done!

 

Open Metatrader. If you have Metatrader open on your computer already, restart it. Check that the Expert Advisor is installed properly by looking at the “expert advisors” section on the left of your screen. If you do not see this click on “view”—->”Navigator”. If you have installed the Expert Advisor correctly it will show up in this list. You are now ready to go, just drag the Expert Advisor onto the right charts and choose your settings!

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More Complicated Expert Advisors

Some Expert Advisors may come with a file ending in “.dll”. If you see a file with this ending then it very likely needs to be transferred into your libraries directory. Just follow step 5 above but this time copy the file into the “libraries” section which is listed inside “expert advisors”.

Other commonly included files with Expert Advisors are “custom indicators”. These files need to go into “experts”—->”indicators” directory. Scripts go into “experts”—>”scripts” likewise.

.set Files

.set files are preconfigured settings which you can load directly into your trading robot. This allows you to bypass all the settings setup and just trade according to someone else’s (or perhaps your own) predefined settings, and load them quickly and easily. To install a .set file put it into “experts”—->”presets”. 

If you wish to use a .set file then you will first need to load up your Expert Advisor onto the correct currency pair chart and timeframe. Double check these are correct, as well as any settings on the main metatrader platform itself, as the .set file will not take care of these. (go to “tools”—>”options”—>”expert advisors” to check your metatrader settings).

Once you have your Expert Advisor on a chart, go into it’s setting list by clicking on the smiley face in the top right corner of your screen.  Click on the “load” button. Now find your .set file in the popup box and click “open” to load it. Your settings should now be automatically updated to settings programmed into the .set file. 

You can create your own .set files. To do this, set up your Expert Advisor with all the settings as you would like to save it. Then, click on “save”, name your file and save it. You are ready to now load those presets whenever you need them. This can save a lot of time if you have a lot of settings in your list which you normally have to set manually!

32 Comments

  1. skygod says:
    May 16, 2009 at 7:38 pm

    Hi Donna
    Very easy to understand, but could you run through laoding ea’s onto ForeVPS. Many Thanks

  2. admin says:
    May 16, 2009 at 8:19 pm

    Okay that will be the next article, thanks :-) .

  3. Patrick Hughes says:
    May 16, 2009 at 11:50 pm

    I followed the instructions to update fabturbo to 47 it still shows 37 metatrader navigator screen, is it supposed to do that?

  4. Patrick Hughes says:
    May 17, 2009 at 5:14 am

    I want to try Alphari I got it all set up but I don’t see robot in the expert advisors area to drag into the chart to demo trading

  5. admin says:
    May 17, 2009 at 7:13 am

    No it is not meant to do that. It sounds like you have not installed the fapturbo47.ex4 file into the correct directory. Check the article again and go through it carefully. Also find and remove version 37- when you do find version 37 to remove it, you will also see that this is the correct place for v.47 to go. One other thing it could be is that you did not unzip the files you downloaded from fapturbo. Although you can access the zipped files you still need to unzip them for them to work in metatrader.

  6. Patrick Hughes says:
    May 18, 2009 at 2:29 am

    I have extracted version 47 it is a exe. file but it is still 37 in the meta trader. I can’t find the old file where is it so I can delete it. Aslo how do I get it to work in Alpari

  7. admin says:
    May 19, 2009 at 12:02 am

    It is not an .exe file, it should be an .ex4 file. It needs placing in the correct place in your metatrader, just follow the instructions exactly as they are above and open up the right folders. You should find the old version 37 inside the experts folder. You can either delete it or just leave it and add in the new one. You also need to update the .dll file with fapturbo. Follow the above instructions carefully one at a time.

  8. david says:
    May 20, 2009 at 12:50 am

    I tried to find the subscribe link on your site, but the field under the “subscribe” to the right at the top of the page was just a blank empty space. So if you could add me to your email list, I would like to get your newsletters and .set files.

  9. admin says:
    May 20, 2009 at 7:00 am

    You need to have Javascript enabled to view it properly. I will add you manually but you will need to click the confirm link.

  10. peter says:
    May 24, 2009 at 5:03 am

    Hi Donna
    i want to run FapTurbo and Megadroid both on demo accounts with ForexMeta. Do i have to open two separate accounts to do this?
    Regards
    peter

  11. dsan says:
    May 24, 2009 at 8:06 am

    does an EA work with Meta Trader 4 MultiTerminal?
    If it works, how do you install the EA in it?

    Thanks!

  12. donnaforex says:
    May 25, 2009 at 6:28 am

    Peter, you can run two robots on one account, but if they trade the same currency pairs as each other make sure the “magic number” setting is different on each chart. If they have no magic number setting then it is best not to put them together.

    dsan, Multiterminal will not run EA’s. That is used mostly by account managers who manually trade client accounts.

  13. dsan says:
    May 28, 2009 at 9:41 am

    Thanks!

  14. peter says:
    May 29, 2009 at 9:47 am

    Hi Donna,
    I reside in Nigeria your site is just what I have been searching for. Can you link me to EAs assesable to my residence since Fapturbo for now does not accept clients resident in my country.

  15. Terry Mills says:
    June 2, 2009 at 4:53 pm

    Hi Donna, i have been testing the Fapturbo for 5 weeks now, apart from a bad trade last friday the new version has recovered the loss nicely in 2 days 170 pips, average 15c a pip, this is going very well, one thing baffles me the trades ignore the stop loss numbers set into the new version, and also tp too example us/cad…any ideas, great system though.

  16. Terry says:
    June 3, 2009 at 7:49 am

    Hi Donna, hope your well and prospering, i have installed another fap turbo on a seperate meta trader platform on the same computer, this is the note that keeps coming up on the journal.2009.06.03 07:40:04 Fapturbo47 EURUSD,M1: cannot load library ‘FapTurbo3.dll’ (error 126)
    any ideas, ts the samr for all the currencies. thanks Donna.

  17. donnaforex says:
    June 3, 2009 at 10:56 pm

    The SL and TP levels you see placed in MT4 by FAPTurbo are not the ‘true’ levels- the true levels are hidden in the EA and are the ones you see in your settings list. Also check out my “custom levels” article for reasons why trades close early at different levels.

    ‘cannot load library’ is due to an installation error. Check that you have installed your fapturbo3.dll file to the correct location.

  18. Terry says:
    June 4, 2009 at 8:14 am

    Thanks Donna, i am gratefull for your prompt answer and guidance on this one.

  19. John says:
    June 8, 2009 at 12:45 am

    Hi, Donna

    I have a small problem here: when I drag Fap Turbo v. 47 to, for example, USD/CAD chart, it gives this message:

    FapTurbo47 USDCAD,M15: not initialized string

    is that an error and how shall I deal with it?
    Thanks in advance!

  20. Mark says:
    June 27, 2009 at 7:57 am

    Dear Donna,

    Im following your articles in your website and noticed that your website has not been updated since last month. Could you please update it and talk a little about VPS and how to install Meta on it.

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    Best regards,
    Mark

  21. donnaforex says:
    June 28, 2009 at 7:41 am

    John, that is an error in fapturbo yes, just redownload the new version again i believe they have fixed it.

    Mark, sorry for the lack of updates, i’ve been working on my members area which is due to open any time now. Will try to post more articles on here soon!

  22. Asuquo Udondond says:
    June 30, 2009 at 2:50 am

    Your answers to the questions are very helpful and educative. My question is: I have on my laptop installed and activated Fap Turbo on EUR/GBP chart and now i want to upload the EA to MT4 on VPS. Should I delete the EA from the chart on my laptop before uploading to VPS. Or can I leave it as it is and still successfully upload to the VPS [to trade with EUR/GBP chart].

  23. grace says:
    July 3, 2009 at 9:24 am

    I been getting ery frustrating tryin to look for instruction on how to I install turbo on different demo account but i cant find it anywhere. The turbo guy did not reply to my question as well.

    it would be great if you could give me instruction on how to do that.

  24. Elenore says:
    July 19, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    Great articles & Nice a site

  25. Danny Thomas says:
    July 22, 2009 at 2:17 pm

    Donna, I’m new and download fapturbo and installed the ea but it saying that it’s not activated. where are the instructions for activation?

  26. amit says:
    July 23, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    i have just purchased fapturbo i am a newbie i know very little about forex. how should i proceed.

  27. Pipturbo says:
    July 31, 2009 at 1:22 am

    Hi there, I found your blog via Google while searching for first aid for a heart attack and your post looks very interesting for me.

  28. LEO M PARKERlmpbreeze@aol.com says:
    August 20, 2009 at 2:26 am

    DONNA I LIKE YOUR WEBSITE LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE A NEW MEMBER!!!!

  29. okuyade ademola says:
    September 2, 2009 at 9:38 am

    Hi, i got an EA from dailyfx ,i tried to adjust the stop loss and the take profit.I couldn’t find the input to do the adjustment.Pls kindly assist me on how to make the adjustment.Thanks

  30. Adam Stall says:
    September 29, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    Hay!
    I found this articel very informative and i would like to thank you for the details and examples you are giving.
    Adam

  31. Lucas says:
    January 26, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    love this site! quick question.
    is FAP Turbo good as it says?

  32. Donna says:
    January 27, 2010 at 12:59 am

    FAPTurbo has it’s ’seasons’ – when it works, it works really well. When it goes through a bad patch, (indeed it has done so for me recently) then it starts performing very bad and things can quickly escalate – owing to its fairly large stoploss value.

    ANY robot is never as good as their sites claim, in my experience. There are very few sites out there who do not hype their products with unrealistic claims. The claims you see are indeed possible, but only if you want to risk everything in what is commonly called a “hail mary” trade (risk everything, then pray for the best!). And even then, with this huge risk, you could just as quickly blow up your account entirely.

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