I went to do the rename trick and this is how that folder looks. I have NOT done this trick. It already has a NinjaTrader.old file AND I don't see the NinjaTrader.sdf file at all. Am I missing something?

A couple of items to consider....
....
4) consider elevating the execution priority of NT8 from Normal to Above Normal or High.

Agree with both these posts, which may have been made by others, but deserve to be made again.

There were changes made when NT8 was designed that require particular programming practices. Failure by programmers to comply, both with indicators and strategies, caused serious issues in the early days, and in some cases these issues may persist today. Some indicators/strategies may not be fully compliant even now, or they may just be badly coded. You can't know if this is the case for you without elimination and step by step re-introduction of every indicator or strategy that did not come direct from NinjaTrader and that is not the current version of an NT-supplied indicator/strategy. You also need to test things like the number of charts, amount of data and number of workspaces you are running, by elimination and step by step re-introduction.

So, the best technique is to:

1. Get back to a bare-bones, current installation of NT, running nothing at all except one chart with nothing but price on it and relatively little data.
2. One at a time, re-introduce indicators/strategies and run each for a good period of time to see if the one you're testing causes problems. Let the run time be consistent with how long it normally takes for your issues to appear. You will need to be patient with this, particularly since many/most/maybe all will be fine. But if you don't test, you don't know. (A complication is that the issue may be caused by having too many things running for your machine, which also should be tested by adding them in cumulatively to see what happens.)
3. Do essentially the same test procedure while gradually introducing more resources, like more charts, workspaces, more days of data, etc.

If you're lucky, you'll find a problem quickly. If not, you will not. But there is no other reliable way to know.

Or, of course, you could just spend the bucks and get a new PC . The problem is that you won't know in advance whether this will solve it, and you will have spent the money. There are still members of this forum who have problems with NT8 not running well, but there are a whole lot more who don't, judging by the fact that many use it and few complain. But the number of users with issues is not zero, which is real and is troubling. (Replacing the whole PC is, of course, an additional elimination test, just an expensive one.)

Good luck. Sorry that you're one of the ones with issues. But elimination and step-by-step re-introduction is the only way to find what is going on, once you have done the other things recommended by other NT8 users.

Bob.

Hello Bob,
Would you please compare between NinjaTrader8 and Sierra Charts (with Denali data and Teton order routing):

1) the load on PC resources
2) the persistence or frequency of lag issues
3) general bothersome quirks/hiccups or freezing of the platform vs. trouble free use of platform
4) problems with indicators and add-ons
5) the need for regular maintenance
6) the needed frequency to reboot the platform (daily, weekly, etc.)
7) anything else you would like to add...

Thanks in advance, Bob!

Thanks for your response, Bob.

If any other members would like to comment on the comparison between NinjaTrader8 and Sierra Charts as outlined in my message, please respond.