If Windows restarts, for updates or maintenance, every program closes, including MetaTrader. This guide makes your terminals start again by themselves, so a restart costs minutes instead of hours.
How it works
MetaTrader is a desktop program, so it needs a signed-in Windows session to run. There are two parts:
- Start the terminal automatically when you sign in.
- Optionally, have Windows sign in automatically after a restart, so step 1 happens without you connecting.
Part 1: start MetaTrader at sign-in
- Press Windows + R, type
shell:startupand press Enter. Your personal Startup folder opens. - Copy the shortcut you use to open each terminal into this folder. If you use portable mode, make sure the shortcut's Target ends with
/portable(why). - Sign out and back in to test. Each terminal should open, log in and resume its EAs.
MetaTrader remembers which EAs were on which charts and whether algo trading was on when it closed, as long as it was closed normally and the login password was saved.
Part 2: sign in automatically after a restart (optional)
Microsoft's free Autologon tool, part of Sysinternals, sets this up and stores the password encrypted rather than in plain text.
- Download Autologon from Microsoft's Sysinternals site (learn.microsoft.com/sysinternals).
- Run
Autologon64.exe, enter your username,.as the domain for a local account, and your password, then click Enable. - Restart the server with
Restart-Computer, wait a few minutes, then connect with RDP. You will join the session that is already signed in, with the terminals running.
Warning: Automatic sign-in means anyone who can see the server's console screen gets your desktop without a password. Use it only on a server where you trust the console access, keep a strong password, and remember to update Autologon (or run it again and click Disable) whenever you change your Windows password.
If you prefer not to use auto sign-in, simply connect with RDP after each restart; the Startup folder does the rest.
Reduce unplanned restarts
- Set active hours and install updates yourself in a quiet market window: Windows Update on a VPS.
- Avoid restarting during your EA's busy trading hours.
Check after every restart
Connect, then confirm in each terminal that the connection status shows a ping, Algo Trading is on, and each EA's chart icon is active. It takes a minute and catches problems early.
Troubleshooting
- Terminal opened but did not log in: open File → Login to Trade Account and tick Save password.
- Terminal opened without its EAs: it was started without
/portableor from a different folder. Fix the shortcut. - Auto sign-in stopped working: you probably changed the password; run Autologon again with the new one.