diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 55b9475830b..71a6bf47a00 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 /*.iml
 /*.tmp
 /.metadata
+/forge.profile.properties
 res/PerSetTrackingResults
 res/oracleScript.log
 res/reprintSetInfo.log
diff --git a/src/main/java/forge/gui/GuiImportPicture.java b/src/main/java/forge/gui/GuiImportPicture.java
index 547c8c31e91..ce77d11fb73 100644
--- a/src/main/java/forge/gui/GuiImportPicture.java
+++ b/src/main/java/forge/gui/GuiImportPicture.java
@@ -45,17 +45,8 @@ import forge.properties.NewConstants;
 import forge.util.CopyFiles;
 import forge.util.FileFinder;
 
-/**
- * <p>
- * GUI_ImportPicture class.
- * </p>
- * 
- * @author Forge
- * @version $Id$
- */
+@SuppressWarnings("serial")
 public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
-    /** Constant <code>serialVersionUID=-4191539152208389089L</code>. */
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = -4191539152208389089L;
     private JPanel jContentPane = null;
     private JLabel jLabel = null;
     private JLabel jLabel1 = null;
@@ -65,12 +56,10 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
     private JCheckBox jCheckBox = null;
     private JButton jButtonStart = null;
 
-    /** The frame. */
     private final GuiImportPicture frame;
     private JLabel jLabelHDDFree = null;
     private JLabel jLabelNeedSpace = null;
 
-    /** The j label total files. */
     private JLabel jLabelTotalFiles = null;
     private List<File> listFiles;
     private ArrayList<File> fileCopyList;
@@ -79,23 +68,12 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
     private String oldText;
     private JProgressBar jProgressBar = null;
 
-    /**
-     * <p>
-     * Constructor for GUI_ImportPicture.
-     * </p>
-     * 
-     * @param owner
-     *            a {@link javax.swing.JFrame} object.
-     */
     public GuiImportPicture(final JFrame owner) {
         super(owner);
         this.frame = this;
         this.initialize();
     }
 
-    /**
-     * This method initializes this.
-     */
     private void initialize() {
         final Dimension screen = this.getToolkit().getScreenSize();
         final Rectangle bounds = this.getBounds();
@@ -112,11 +90,6 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
         this.setContentPane(this.getJContentPane());
     }
 
-    /**
-     * This method initializes jContentPane.
-     * 
-     * @return javax.swing.JPanel
-     */
     private JPanel getJContentPane() {
         if (this.jContentPane == null) {
             this.jLabelTotalFiles = new JLabel();
@@ -163,11 +136,6 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
         return this.jContentPane;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * This method initializes jButtonSource.
-     * 
-     * @return javax.swing.JButton
-     */
     private JButton getJButtonSource() {
         if (this.jButtonSource == null) {
             this.jButtonSource = new JButton();
@@ -254,11 +222,6 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
         return this.jButtonSource;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * This method initializes jPanel.
-     * 
-     * @return javax.swing.JPanel
-     */
     private JPanel getJPanel() {
         if (this.jPanel == null) {
             final GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
@@ -275,11 +238,6 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
         return this.jPanel;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * This method initializes jCheckBox.
-     * 
-     * @return javax.swing.JCheckBox
-     */
     private JCheckBox getJCheckBox() {
         if (this.jCheckBox == null) {
             this.jCheckBox = new JCheckBox();
@@ -347,11 +305,6 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
         return this.jCheckBox;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * This method initializes jButtonStart.
-     * 
-     * @return javax.swing.JButton
-     */
     private JButton getJButtonStart() {
         if (this.jButtonStart == null) {
             this.jButtonStart = new JButton();
@@ -404,11 +357,6 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
         return this.jButtonStart;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * This method initializes jProgressBar.
-     * 
-     * @return javax.swing.JProgressBar
-     */
     private JProgressBar getJProgressBar() {
         if (this.jProgressBar == null) {
             this.jProgressBar = new JProgressBar();
@@ -418,4 +366,4 @@ public class GuiImportPicture extends JDialog {
         }
         return this.jProgressBar;
     }
-} // @jve:decl-index=0:visual-constraint="10,10"
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/forge/model/FModel.java b/src/main/java/forge/model/FModel.java
index babd6dc9420..8ab5ce81c23 100644
--- a/src/main/java/forge/model/FModel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/forge/model/FModel.java
@@ -103,6 +103,18 @@ public enum FModel {
         // Fire up log file and exception handling
         ExceptionHandler.registerErrorHandling();
 
+        // create profile dirs if they don't already exist
+        for (String dname : NewConstants.PROFILE_DIRS) {
+            File path = new File(dname);
+            if (path.isDirectory()) {
+                // already exists
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (!path.mkdirs()) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("cannot create profile directory: " + dname);
+            }
+        }
+        
         final File logFile = new File(NewConstants.LOG_FILE);
         final boolean deleteSucceeded = logFile.delete();
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/forge/properties/ForgeProfileProperties.java b/src/main/java/forge/properties/ForgeProfileProperties.java
index fe454a94e0d..5f2954c1c3d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/forge/properties/ForgeProfileProperties.java
+++ b/src/main/java/forge/properties/ForgeProfileProperties.java
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ public class ForgeProfileProperties {
     public final String cacheDir;
     public final String cardPicsDir;
     
-    private final String _USER_DIR_KEY      = "userDir";
-    private final String _CACHE_DIR_KEY     = "cacheDir";
-    private final String _CARD_PICS_DIR_KEY = "cardPicsDir";
+    private static final String _USER_DIR_KEY      = "userDir";
+    private static final String _CACHE_DIR_KEY     = "cacheDir";
+    private static final String _CARD_PICS_DIR_KEY = "cardPicsDir";
 
     public ForgeProfileProperties(String filename) {
         Properties props = new Properties();
@@ -47,31 +47,29 @@ public class ForgeProfileProperties {
                 props.load(new FileInputStream(propFile));
             }
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            // ignore
+            System.err.println("error while reading from profile properties file: " + filename);
         }
 
         Pair<String, String> defaults = _getDefaultDirs();
-        
-        String propUserDir = props.getProperty(_USER_DIR_KEY, defaults.getLeft());
-        String propCacheDir = props.getProperty(_CACHE_DIR_KEY, defaults.getRight());
-        
-        // use defaults if the dirs are "defined" as empty strings in the properties file
-        propUserDir  = StringUtils.isEmpty(propUserDir)  ? defaults.getLeft()  : propUserDir.trim();
-        propCacheDir = StringUtils.isEmpty(propCacheDir) ? defaults.getRight() : propCacheDir.trim();
-        
-        propUserDir  += propUserDir.endsWith("/")  || propUserDir.endsWith(File.pathSeparator)  ? "" : "/";
-        propCacheDir += propCacheDir.endsWith("/") || propCacheDir.endsWith(File.pathSeparator) ? "" : "/";
-        
-        String propCardPicsDir = props.getProperty(_CARD_PICS_DIR_KEY, propCacheDir + "pics/cards/");
-        propCardPicsDir += propCardPicsDir.endsWith("/") || propCardPicsDir.endsWith(File.pathSeparator) ? "" : "/";
-        
-        userDir     = propUserDir;
-        cacheDir    = propCacheDir;
-        cardPicsDir = propCardPicsDir;
+        userDir     = _getDir(props, _USER_DIR_KEY,      defaults.getLeft());
+        cacheDir    = _getDir(props, _CACHE_DIR_KEY,     defaults.getRight());
+        cardPicsDir = _getDir(props, _CARD_PICS_DIR_KEY, cacheDir + "pics/cards/");
+    }
+
+    private static String _getDir(Properties props, String propertyKey, String defaultVal) {
+        String retDir = props.getProperty(propertyKey, defaultVal).trim();
+        if (retDir.isEmpty()) {
+            // use default if dir is "defined" as an empty or whitespace string in the properties file
+            return defaultVal;
+        }
+        if (retDir.endsWith("/") || retDir.endsWith(File.pathSeparator)) {
+            return retDir;
+        }
+        return retDir + "/";
     }
     
     // returns a pair <userDir, cacheDir>
-    private Pair<String, String> _getDefaultDirs() {
+    private static Pair<String, String> _getDefaultDirs() {
         String osName = System.getProperty("os.name");
         String homeDir = System.getProperty("user.home");
 
@@ -83,7 +81,8 @@ public class ForgeProfileProperties {
         
         if (StringUtils.containsIgnoreCase("windows", osName)) {
             // the split between appdata and localappdata on windows is relatively recent.  If
-            // localappdata is not defined, use appdata for both.
+            // localappdata is not defined, use appdata for both.  and if appdata is not defined,
+            // fall back to a linux-style dot dir in the home directory
             String appRoot = System.getenv().get("APPDATA");
             if (StringUtils.isEmpty(appRoot)) {
                 appRoot = fallbackDataDir;
@@ -93,6 +92,8 @@ public class ForgeProfileProperties {
                 cacheRoot = appRoot;
             }
             // just use '/' everywhere instead of file.separator.  it always works
+            // the cache dir is Forge/Cache instead of just Forge since appRoot and cacheRoot might be the
+            // same directory on windows and we need to distinguish them.
             return Pair.of(String.format("%s/Forge", appRoot),
                            String.format("%s/Forge/Cache", cacheRoot));
         } else if (StringUtils.containsIgnoreCase("mac os x", osName)) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/forge/view/Main.java b/src/main/java/forge/view/Main.java
index 0eb7890cdad..c2d44a60be8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/forge/view/Main.java
+++ b/src/main/java/forge/view/Main.java
@@ -17,12 +17,9 @@
  */
 package forge.view;
 
-import java.io.File;
-
 import forge.Singletons;
 import forge.control.FControl;
 import forge.model.FModel;
-import forge.properties.NewConstants;
 
 /**
  * Main class for Forge's swing application view.
@@ -35,18 +32,6 @@ public final class Main {
         // HACK - temporary solution to "Comparison method violates it's general contract!" crash
         System.setProperty("java.util.Arrays.useLegacyMergeSort", "true");
 
-        // create profile dirs if they don't already exist
-        for (String dname : NewConstants.PROFILE_DIRS) {
-            File path = new File(dname);
-            if (path.isDirectory()) {
-                // already exists
-                continue;
-            }
-            if (!path.mkdirs()) {
-                throw new RuntimeException("cannot create profile directory: " + dname);
-            }
-        }
-        
         // Start splash screen first, then data models, then controller.
         Singletons.setView(FView.SINGLETON_INSTANCE);
         Singletons.setModel(FModel.SINGLETON_INSTANCE);