diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index 89a004a6..1a9bf86a 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@
       //   "AYANOVA_USE_URLS": "http://*:7575;",
       //   //"AYANOVA_REPORT_RENDERING_TIMEOUT": "20000",
       //   //"AYANOVA_REPORT_RENDERING_MAX_INSTANCES": "3",
-         "AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\userfiles",
-         //"AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES":"%ProgramData%\\ayanova\\userfiles",
+         //"AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\userfiles",
+         "AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES":"%ProgramData%\\ayanova\\userfiles",
          "AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\backupfiles",
          "AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\tempfiles",
       //   "AYANOVA_SERVER_TEST_MODE": "false",
diff --git a/dist/install/windows-pg-standalone/ayanovaserver.iss b/dist/install/windows-pg-standalone/ayanovaserver.iss
index b37785de..caf8b626 100644
--- a/dist/install/windows-pg-standalone/ayanovaserver.iss
+++ b/dist/install/windows-pg-standalone/ayanovaserver.iss
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ Name: "desktopicon"; Description: "{cm:CreateDesktopIcon}"; GroupDescription: "{
 [Files]
 Source: "C:\data\code\raven\dist\win-x64\ayanova\{#MyAppExeName}"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion
 Source: "C:\data\code\raven\dist\win-x64\ayanova\*"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs createallsubdirs
-Source: "C:\data\code\raven\dist\win-x64\launcher\appsettings.json"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion confirmoverwrite
+Source: "C:\data\code\raven\dist\win-x64\launcher\config.json"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion confirmoverwrite
 Source: "C:\data\code\raven\dist\win-x64\launcher\*"; DestDir: "{app}\launcher"; Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs createallsubdirs
 ;Source: "C:\data\code\raven\dist\win-x64\launcher\{#MyAppLauncherExeName}"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion
 ; NOTE: Don't use "Flags: ignoreversion" on any shared system files
diff --git a/server/AyaNova/util/FileUtil.cs b/server/AyaNova/util/FileUtil.cs
index d44ea2a8..59cfb309 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/util/FileUtil.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/util/FileUtil.cs
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ namespace AyaNova.Util
         //create path if doesn't exist already
         private static void EnsurePath(string path)
         {
-            Console.WriteLine($"FileUtil::EnsurePath path = [{path}]");
+            //Console.WriteLine($"FileUtil::EnsurePath path = [{path}]");
             if (!Directory.Exists(path))
                 Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
         }
@@ -821,6 +821,15 @@ namespace AyaNova.Util
 
             return ret;
         }
+
+        public static string StringPathDecodeEnvironmentVariables(string path){
+            if(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(path)){
+                return string.Empty;
+            }
+
+            return System.Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables(path);
+
+        }
         #endregion general utilities
 
     }//eoc
diff --git a/server/AyaNova/util/ServerBootConfig.cs b/server/AyaNova/util/ServerBootConfig.cs
index 79866b17..cb57dc7b 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/util/ServerBootConfig.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/util/ServerBootConfig.cs
@@ -181,10 +181,10 @@ namespace AyaNova.Util
 
             //FOLDERS
             //Log folder
-            AYANOVA_LOG_PATH = config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_LOG_PATH");
+            AYANOVA_LOG_PATH = FileUtil.StringPathDecodeEnvironmentVariables(config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_LOG_PATH"));
 
 
-            if (AYANOVA_LOG_PATH == null)
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(AYANOVA_LOG_PATH))
             {
                 //DEFAULT LOG PATH
                 var currentDir = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
@@ -197,16 +197,16 @@ namespace AyaNova.Util
 
             //(note, startup.cs ensures these folders exist via FileUtil because we need IHostingEnvironment)
             //UserFiles
-            AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES = config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES");
+            AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES = FileUtil.StringPathDecodeEnvironmentVariables(config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES"));
 
             //BackupFiles
-            AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES = config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES");
+            AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES = FileUtil.StringPathDecodeEnvironmentVariables(config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES"));
 
             //TemporaryFiles
-            AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES = config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES");
+            AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES = FileUtil.StringPathDecodeEnvironmentVariables(config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES"));
 
             //pgdump backup utility path
-            AYANOVA_BACKUP_PG_DUMP_PATH = config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_BACKUP_PG_DUMP_PATH");
+            AYANOVA_BACKUP_PG_DUMP_PATH = FileUtil.StringPathDecodeEnvironmentVariables(config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_BACKUP_PG_DUMP_PATH"));
 
             //backdoor back door password superuser reset
             AYANOVA_SET_SUPERUSER_PW = config.GetValue<string>("AYANOVA_SET_SUPERUSER_PW");
@@ -218,6 +218,7 @@ namespace AyaNova.Util
         }
 
 
+
         //Fetch first url from list of urls (used by generator)
         internal static string FirstOfAyaNovaUseUrls
         {