Symptoms
You installed the Tick Data Suite but the Use tick data checkbox and the Tick data settings button do not show up in the Metatrader 4 backtest pane.
Resolution
This can be caused by various factors. Before trying anything else, I suggest maximizing the MT4 window and then restoring it, or if it's maximized, restore it and then maximize it once more - in some very rare cases, that's all it takes.
Potential causes:
- If terminal.exe is renamed to something else, the Tick Data Suite will not load. The Tick Data Suite will load perfectly fine if the executable is renamed back to terminal.exe.
- The Tick Data Suite will not load if the TDS Service is not running. Check that the TDS Service is running by running the Tick Data Suite support assistant (from your Start menu) and inspecting the Settings tab. If the service is stopped, you should start it by clicking the Start TDS Service button.
Additionally, if the service is stopped, you should check your antivirus logs - some AV software tends to stop the service every now and then.
If both the Start TDS Service and the Stop TDS Service buttons are grayed out, it means something (probably your antivirus) completely removed the service. This can be solved by whitelisting TDSService.exe in your antivirus and reinstalling the Tick Data Suite or using the repair option.
If you click Start TDS Service and the service fails to start, you should run Services from your Start menu and check that the TDS Service has its start-up type configured to Automatic. Some antivirus software (such as McAfee) has been known to occasionally set the service to Disabled which prevents restarting it. Setting it back to Automatic fixes this issue, but you may also have to whitelist it in your antivirus if that's where the problem originated. - Check your MT4 journal for more information. If any problem is encountered during startup, the Tick Data Suite will print a message in the MT4 Journal tab. For example, if your support plan expired and you are trying to use your license with an MT4 build that the license is not entitled to run with, a message will be printed there.
- If the Metatrader 4 window is too small, the controls are automatically hidden. If you are using a very small MT4 window you should try resizing it to make it slightly bigger and the controls will automatically show up. Note that this only applies if your MT4 window is very small.
- If the suggestions above are not helpful and the TDS Service is running, another thing to try is to switch to loading via driver. You can do that by running the Tick Data Suite support assistant (from your Start menu), clicking the Stop TDS Service button in the Settings tab, enabling the Load the Tick Data Suite via kernel driver checkbox, clicking the Start TDS Service and then running MT4 once more.
- Finally, if you exhausted all the options above, please run the Tick Data Suite support assistant (from the Start menu) and submit a support ticket with all the logs attached.