diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index 3f88bf8e..7df8dbfe 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -52,9 +52,9 @@
       //   "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_BACKUP_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\backupfiles",
-      //   "AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\tempfiles",
+         "AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\userfiles",
+         "AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\backupfiles",
+         "AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\tempfiles",
       //   "AYANOVA_SERVER_TEST_MODE": "false",
       //   "AYANOVA_SERVER_TEST_MODE_SEEDLEVEL": "small",
       //   "AYANOVA_SERVER_TEST_MODE_TZ_OFFSET": "-8",
diff --git a/server/AyaNova/Program.cs b/server/AyaNova/Program.cs
index 9c94df36..534503ec 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/Program.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/Program.cs
@@ -66,16 +66,18 @@ namespace AyaNova
                 return;
             }
 
+            try
+            {
+                FileUtil.EnsureUserAndUtilityFoldersExistAndAreNotIdentical();
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                 Console.WriteLine($"Unable to locate or create server file folders error was: {ex.Message}");
+                return;
+            }
 
 
-
-            //       "AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES":"%programdata\\ayanova\\userfiles",
-            //     "":"%programdata\\ayanova\\backupfiles",
-            //     "AYANOVA_LOG_LEVEL": "Info",
-            //     "AYANOVA_LOG_PATH":"%programdata\\ayanova\\"
-
             //Human readable config output to console for diagnosis in case server wont' start
-
             var AyaNovaConfig = config.AsEnumerable().Where(z => z.Key.StartsWith("AYANOVA") && z.Key != "AYANOVA_JWT_SECRET" && z.Key != "AYANOVA_SET_SUPERUSER_PW").Select(z => z.Key + "=" + z.Value).ToList();
             var DiagConfig = string.Join(",", AyaNovaConfig);
             DiagConfig = DbUtil.PasswordRedactedConnectionString(DiagConfig);
@@ -87,6 +89,8 @@ namespace AyaNova
 
 
 
+
+
             #region Initialize Logging                     
             //NOTE: there is a logging issue that breaks all this with .net 3.1 hostbuilder vs webhostbuilder but webhostbuilder will be deprecated so we need to work around it
             //the discussion about that is here: https://github.com/aspnet/AspNetCore/issues/9337
diff --git a/server/AyaNova/Startup.cs b/server/AyaNova/Startup.cs
index 6629dde3..b45c98de 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/Startup.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/Startup.cs
@@ -117,8 +117,7 @@ namespace AyaNova
 
 
 
-            _newLog.LogDebug("Ensuring user and backup folders exist and are separate locations...");
-            FileUtil.EnsureUserAndUtilityFoldersExistAndAreNotIdentical(_hostingEnvironment.ContentRootPath);
+           
 
             //TODO: ENsure report files here
 
diff --git a/server/AyaNova/util/FileUtil.cs b/server/AyaNova/util/FileUtil.cs
index ad29d789..c2089138 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/util/FileUtil.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/util/FileUtil.cs
@@ -25,25 +25,24 @@ namespace AyaNova.Util
         /// Throws an exception of they are found to be identical preventing startup
         /// The reason for this is to prevent a future erase database operation (which erases all attachment files)
         /// from erasing backups which might prevent recovery in case someone accidentally erases their database
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="contentRootPath"></param>
+        /// </summary>        
         /// <returns></returns>
-        internal static void EnsureUserAndUtilityFoldersExistAndAreNotIdentical(string contentRootPath)
+        internal static void EnsureUserAndUtilityFoldersExistAndAreNotIdentical()
         {
 
-            //UserFiles
-            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES))
-                ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES = Path.Combine(contentRootPath, "userfiles");
+            // //UserFiles
+            // if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES))
+            //     ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES = Path.Combine(contentRootPath, "userfiles");
 
 
-            //BackupFiles
-            if (ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES == null)
-                ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES = Path.Combine(contentRootPath, "backupfiles");
+            // //BackupFiles
+            // if (ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES == null)
+            //     ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES = Path.Combine(contentRootPath, "backupfiles");
 
 
-            //Temporary system files (reports etc)
-            if (ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES == null)
-                ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES = Path.Combine(contentRootPath, "tempfiles");
+            // //Temporary system files (reports etc)
+            // if (ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES == null)
+            //     ServerBootConfig.AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES = Path.Combine(contentRootPath, "tempfiles");