Why does my NinjaTrader Machine ID keep changing?

Understanding Why Your NinjaTrader Machine ID Changes

If you’ve noticed that your NinjaTrader Machine ID keeps changing, you’re not alone. This article explains why that happens and how you can help prevent it.

First, it’s important to understand that you do not choose or set your NinjaTrader Machine ID yourself. NinjaTrader generates it automatically based on a combination of your computer’s fundamental hardware and software. This includes components and settings such as:

• RAM (memory)

• Motherboard

• BIOS or UEFI firmware

• Windows operating system updates

• System firmware or driver updates

Because your NinjaTrader Machine ID is tied to these core elements of your system, any change to them can result in a new NinjaTrader Machine ID being generated. Even what might seem like a minor update, such as a firmware or Windows patch—can be enough to trigger a change.

How to Help Prevent Your NinjaTrader Machine ID from Changing

If you want to reduce how often your NinjaTrader Machine ID changes, you can turn off automatic updates in Windows. This can help maintain a consistent system configuration and reduce the likelihood of triggering a new NinjaTrader Machine ID.

However, a new NinjaTrader Machine ID now and then is just part of using NinjaTrader and is not a big deal. When it changes, update it on the NinjaTrader Machine IDs page in the Members Area and you are back up and running in a minute.

Other common reasons for a new NinjaTrader Machine ID

The NinjaTrader Machine ID is NinjaTrader’s own hardware fingerprint, the same value NinjaTrader uses for its own licence. Besides updates, these usually produce a new one:

• Reinstalling or resetting Windows, or reimaging the computer.
• Replacing hardware such as the motherboard.
• A new or rebuilt VPS. Creating a new virtual server, or having your provider rebuild yours from an image, gives you a new NinjaTrader Machine ID even though it feels like the same server.

A related case: VPS servers built from the same image can end up with the same NinjaTrader Machine ID. That is normal and is decided by NinjaTrader, not by us.

What to do when your NinjaTrader Machine ID changes

1. In NinjaTrader, open Help > About in the Control Center and copy your new NinjaTrader Machine ID.
2. Go to the NinjaTrader Machine IDs page in the Members Area and replace the old ID with the new one in the same box.
3. Click SAVE CHANGES, then restart NinjaTrader.

Our guide on how to add or update your NinjaTrader Machine ID covers each step. If it keeps changing every few days, contact us through the help chat and include a screenshot of the About window.