What should I do when my trading computer won't turn on and I have a position open?
Get flat first from your broker's phone app, their website on your phone's browser, or their direct trade desk line. Then do a 30-second check to see whether you have a power problem, a software problem or a failing storage drive. Almost 70% of the "it won't turn on" calls I take turn out to be software, and a Windows recovery drive you made ahead of time fixes most of those. For everything else, a second USB stick lets you get in control of your position on somebody else's laptop in 10 minutes instead of 90.
Key takeaways
- Most dead machines aren't dead. Almost 70% of "it won't turn on" calls I take are software issues.
- Run the 30-second check first. Lights and fans tell you if it's power, software or storage.
- Drive one is a recovery drive. A 32 GB stick for around 12 bucks, made while the machine is healthy.
- Drive two is your get-flat stick. A 128 GB stick for about 20 bucks with installers, layouts and your trade desk number.
- The trade desk number is the big one. Missing it cost one of my customers about $1,100.
- Encrypt the second stick. BitLocker needs Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise or Education to set it up.
A customer of mine called me at 8:40 in the morning last week. His machine would not boot. Black screen, one blinking cursor, nothing else. He still had a futures position open from the day before, and when he called his broker's main line to get flat, the hold time was 19 minutes.
He got out of the trade eventually, but it cost him about 1,100 bucks more than it should have, because the market does not wait for hold music.
Everybody in the computer world will tell you to make a Windows recovery drive. It's good advice, and I'll show you how to do it. But a recovery drive would not have saved that man's trade. What would have saved it was 10 minutes of setup he never did, and almost none of the traders I talk to have done it either.
Here's the order we're going to go in. First, the 30-second check that tells you which of three problems you actually have. Then drive number one, which gets your own machine breathing again. Then drive number two, which gets you flat on somebody else's machine before the bell when drive one can't save you.
Both of these drives belong in your desk drawer, not your shopping cart, for one simple reason: you cannot make either one after your machine has gone down. Most bad mornings are a 15-minute fix if the right flash memory stick is already sitting in that drawer.
Why "it won't turn on" is usually a software problem
In 16 years of building trading computers for traders, almost 70% of the calls I take where people say "it won't turn on" are actually software issues. Usually it's a Windows update that broke the graphics driver overnight, or boot files that got scrambled in a bad shutdown. If you want to know what to look at after an update lands, I wrote about what traders should check after a Windows update.
The 30-second check that decides what you do next
Look at the front of the machine and listen to it. What you see and hear sorts you into one of three cases.
| What you see | What you have | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No lights, no fan noise | A power problem, not a Windows problem | Reseat the power cable, try another outlet. Still dark? That's a phone call, not a USB stick. |
| Fans spin, lights on, screen stays black | The software case | If Windows installed an update in the last day or so, drive number one fixes it. |
| Loops at the Windows logo, or charts take 4 minutes to open | A storage drive that's likely failing | The machine needs hardware. This is when drive number two earns its keep. |
The third case is the ugly one. A recovery drive will not save a dying storage drive. Hardware rarely quits out of nowhere, either, which is why I wrote why your trading computer doesn't die by accident.
If that third case sounds like you and your machine has been dragging its feet at the open for weeks, find out where your processor actually stands before you spend a dollar on anything. I built a free CPU benchmark test for traders. It scores your processor and tells you straight how it stacks up for real trading work. It takes about two minutes.
Drive number one: the Windows recovery drive
This one is genuinely a 5-minute chore. If you bought a machine from EZ Trading Computers, you already have one, because we include a recovery drive with every new machine we build. Find it and put it somewhere you can grab it even in the dark. If it's more than a year old, make a fresh one the same way I'm about to show you, so it has the latest Windows updates on it.
For everyone else, here's how to build one today, while the machine is healthy, because that's the only time this works.
How to make a Windows recovery drive for your trading computer
- Get a 32 GB USB stick. A 32 GB flash memory stick runs around 12 bucks. Plug it into your trading computer while it's working normally.
- Open the recovery drive tool. Click the Start button and type the words create a recovery drive. Click it when it pops up, then click Yes on the permission box.
- Check the system files box. Make sure the box that says Back up system files to the recovery drive is checked. That box is what lets the stick reinstall Windows if it ever comes to that.
- Pick your USB drive. Click Next, choose your USB stick from the list, and click Next again.
- Click Create and walk away. This can take up to an hour, so start it and go do something else.
- Label it with a date. When it finishes, write what the stick is for and the date on it with a Sharpie.
I remake mine a couple of times a year, after Windows puts out a big update. Those same repair tools also live on your internal drive, and Windows will usually bring them up on its own after a couple of failed boots. You want the USB stick for the mornings when that recovery partition is scrambled too.
How do I boot from a recovery drive on a bad morning?
Plug the stick into a port on the back of the machine, power it on, and start tapping the boot menu key. A message flashes the right key on the screen for about a second during startup. On most machines it's F12, F11 or F8, and on some it's the Escape key. When you get to that menu, pick your USB drive, then click Troubleshoot, then Advanced options.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Startup repair | Rebuilds the boot files. The one I reach for first, and in my experience it handles most black screen mornings all by itself. |
| Uninstall updates | Pulls out the latest Windows update if that's what hosed your machine. Almost no trader knows it exists. |
| System restore | Rolls you back to a saved restore point, but only if one exists. On a lot of machines the feature is switched off. |
That's why I always tell people to set a restore point before you change or install anything new.
When a graphics driver is the problem
If a new graphics driver came down overnight instead, Uninstall updates won't touch it. For that one you need Safe Mode, and Safe Mode is not on the USB stick's menu. Take the stick out and start and restart the machine a couple of times. After two failed starts, Windows opens its own repair screen. Click Troubleshoot, then Advanced options, then Startup settings, then Restart. Pick Safe Mode and roll the driver back in Device Manager.
If none of that works, drive number two stops being optional.
Get flat from your phone before you touch either stick
One thing first. Before you touch either recovery stick, try your broker's phone app, or open your phone's web browser and go to your broker's website. That's the fastest way you're going to get flat, and it works from everywhere. You can also call their trading desk.
Drive number two: the get-flat stick
Drive number two is for when you need your real layout and real control for the rest of the session. Get yourself a 128 GB stick for about 20 bucks. Its whole job is to let you sit down at your wife's laptop or your kids' laptop and be in control of your position in 10 minutes instead of 90. If you want the bigger picture beyond these two sticks, I laid out the full trading hardware backup plan separately.
Four things go on it:
- Your platform installers. Download the NinjaTrader installer, the thinkorswim installer, whatever you run, and drop the files on the stick. Trying to pull down a 400 MB installer at 9:15 in the morning over someone else's basement Wi-Fi is a special kind of misery.
- Your chart layouts. Export your chart templates and workspace files and copy them over. Some platforms keep your layout on their servers and some keep it on your hard drive, so check yours today instead of finding out at the worst possible moment. A borrowed machine with your real layout is a completely different animal than a blank chart.
- A one-page trade desk sheet. This is the one that would have saved my caller his 1,100 bucks. Your broker's direct trade desk number, not the general customer service line with the 19-minute queue. Add your account number and write out the exact sentence you'd say to flatten a position, so you're not composing it with your heart beating at about 150 beats per minute. Print a copy and keep it in the drawer, because a stick does you no good if there's no computer to read it on.
- Your two-factor backup codes and password vault. These never go on a naked stick you might leave in a hotel room or drop in a parking lot. That stick gets encrypted.
How to encrypt the stick with BitLocker
Here's what trips almost everybody up: encrypting a USB stick with BitLocker only works on certain versions of Windows, and most computers sold in stores are not one of them. So check yours first. Click Start, type settings, and click it. Click System on the left, scroll all the way down, and click About. Look at the line that says Windows Edition.
If it says Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise or Education, you're in business. Open File Explorer, click This PC on the left, right-click your USB drive and click Turn on BitLocker. It walks you through the setup from there. Set a password you'll actually remember, and keep the recovery key somewhere off the drive. Printed on paper in the same desk drawer is fine.
If it says Windows 11 Home, the BitLocker option won't be there for a USB stick, and you're not doing anything wrong. Home simply doesn't include it. The fix is to plug the stick into a Pro machine for 5 minutes and encrypt it there. A lot of traders have one at the office, or a spouse has one. After that, the stick will open with your password on any Windows 11 machine, Home included. That matters, because the whole point of this stick is plugging it into someone else's laptop.
Don't skip this and tell yourself you'll get to it later. An unencrypted USB drive with your brokerage codes on it is the worst thing you can have lying around or lost.
What these two drives will not do
Let me be straight. A borrowed consumer laptop will get you flat and maybe carry you through a morning, but it's not going to run four screens and a live feed all day without gasping for air. These drives buy you time, and time is the one thing you never have with a position open.
Your next step
Make both sticks this week, while your machine is healthy. Then run the free trading benchmark test so you know where your processor stands.
If this made you realize you don't know what's inside your own machine, I put together the free Complete Guide to Trading Computers. It walks you through every component that matters for trading in plain English, so you know what you're protecting and what's worth replacing. And if you want to see what we've got on sale right now, take a look at our desktop trading computers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a computer to day trade?
To get out of a position in an emergency, no. Your broker's phone app, or your broker's website in your phone's browser, is the fastest way to get flat, and it works from everywhere. You can also call the broker's direct trade desk. But for your real layout and real control for the rest of the session, you want a computer, which is why I keep a second USB stick ready with installers and chart layouts.
Can you day trade on a laptop if your trading computer dies?
You can get flat on one, and maybe carry yourself through a morning. With a 128 GB stick holding your platform installers and exported layouts, you can be in control of your position on a family member's laptop in about 10 minutes instead of 90. But a borrowed consumer laptop won't run four screens and a live feed all day without gasping for air. It buys you time, not a full trading day.
Will a Windows recovery drive fix a failing hard drive?
No. A recovery drive will not save a dying storage drive. If your machine loops at the Windows logo, or it's been taking 4 minutes to open a chart lately, the storage drive is likely failing and the machine needs hardware. That's when your second USB stick, with your installers, layouts and trade desk sheet, gets you trading on another machine.
What key opens the boot menu on a trading computer?
On most machines it's F12, F11 or F8, and on some it's the Escape key. During startup, a message flashes the right key on the screen for about a second, so plug in your recovery stick, power on and start tapping. When the menu appears, pick your USB drive, then Troubleshoot, then Advanced options.
Can you encrypt a USB stick with BitLocker on Windows 11 Home?
Not on Home itself. The BitLocker option for a USB stick only shows up on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise or Education. The fix is to plug the stick into a Pro machine for about 5 minutes and encrypt it there, maybe one at your office or your spouse's. After that, the stick opens with your password on any Windows 11 machine, Home included.
How often should I remake my Windows recovery drive?
I remake mine a couple of times a year, after Windows puts out a big update. At minimum, if your recovery drive is more than a year old, make a fresh one so it carries the latest Windows updates. Write the date on the stick with a Sharpie so you always know how current it is.
