In your Jts folder (or wherever TWS is installed), there will be one or more directories with non-English names. These represent each of your usernames that you log on with. Just copy each of those directories to some place outside of the root Jts folder. If there is ever a problem with your settings getting trashed, try copying back these weirdly named folders into the Jts folder to recover those settings.
I have not lost settings between TWS upgrades... but the following tip may be useful. If you grab the tws.xml file (exit first to make sure it gets updated), you can reload it via Restore Settings. This gets back 95% of the settings. (There're a few small omissions in my experience.) This is how I replicate settings between 2 PCs.
I got a message for mandatory upgrade for sometime next month....anyways, I fired up TWS Updates and says I am running current version....the 866.5 Supp here ?
I use the web based TWS and the latest build is 872.6. I had the same issue with TWS updates. It said I was running the latest build when I actually was not. IB tech support said they are aware of the issue.
You could also "zip" your JTS folder nightly, or back it up using one of the free online services such as mozy.com, xdrive, etc.
you mean you had the problem where you couldn't upgrade TWS because the installer thought you had the latest version? I used to have that problem and figured it out on my own (IB support was of no use as usual). You need to clear your internet browser cache. The problem was IE was not actually downloading the latest version and you are running an old installer still in the cache.
i agree 100% with you on this approach and it does work on TWS settings with couple pages and few tickers on it. here is perfect example of how restore function works on TWS. on one setup i have 24 pages (max is 26 with API and pending page included) filled with tickers in certain order. one day everything got screwed up. tickers are missing ,empty pages. now i'm talking about browser version here, because it's latest and because it doesn't have stupid pop up's. so.. here i'm with settings file stored in different folder just in case if such event is happens. i found that backup file, press restore and guess what i got? take a look attached file. have to admit-did upgrade on couple computers to 871-no issues so far(exept the usual- few deleted folders not TWS related,but in same Jts folder) but each TWS instance consuming/reserving even more memory(as i expected) now about 150-160mb each