diff --git a/archie.c b/archie.c
index 07ac26b..14b7d6d 100644
--- a/archie.c
+++ b/archie.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ char *archie_get_floppy_name(char i)
 
 void archie_save_config(void)
 {
-	FileSave(CONFIG_FILENAME, &config, sizeof(config));
+	FileSaveConfig(CONFIG_FILENAME, &config, sizeof(config));
 }
 
 void archie_send_file(unsigned char id, char *name)
@@ -252,7 +252,6 @@ static void archie_kbd_reset(void)
 
 void archie_init(void)
 {
-	fileTYPE file;
 	char i;
 
 	archie_debugf("init");
@@ -262,15 +261,15 @@ void archie_init(void)
 	strcpy(config.rom_img, "RISCOS.ROM");
 
 	// try to load config from card
-	if (FileOpen(&file, CONFIG_FILENAME))
+	int size = FileLoadConfig(CONFIG_FILENAME, 0, 0);
+	if (size>0)
 	{
-		if (file.size == sizeof(archie_config_t))
+		if (size == sizeof(archie_config_t))
 		{
-			FileReadAdv(&file, &config, sizeof(archie_config_t));
+			FileLoadConfig(CONFIG_FILENAME, &config, sizeof(archie_config_t));
 		}
 		else
-			archie_debugf("Unexpected config size %d != %d", file.size, sizeof(archie_config_t));
-		FileClose(&file);
+			archie_debugf("Unexpected config size %d != %d", size, sizeof(archie_config_t));
 	}
 	else
 		archie_debugf("No %s config found", CONFIG_FILENAME);
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 0e8eb84..96245c2 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -260,15 +260,15 @@ unsigned char LoadConfiguration(char *filename)
 		filename = configfilename;
 	}
 
-	fileTYPE file;
 	// load configuration data
-	if (FileOpen(&file, filename)) {
-		FileClose(&file);
+	int size = FileLoadConfig(filename, 0, 0);
+	if(size>0)
+	{
 		BootPrint("Opened configuration file\n");
-		printf("Configuration file size: %s, %lu\n", file.name, file.size);
-		if (file.size == sizeof(config))
+		printf("Configuration file size: %s, %lu\n", filename, size);
+		if (size == sizeof(config))
 		{
-			if (FileLoad(filename, &tmpconf, sizeof(tmpconf)))
+			if (FileLoadConfig(filename, &tmpconf, sizeof(tmpconf)))
 			{
 				// check file id and version
 				if (strncmp(tmpconf.id, config_id, sizeof(config.id)) == 0) {
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ unsigned char LoadConfiguration(char *filename)
 			}
 			else printf("Cannot load configuration file\n");
 		}
-		else printf("Wrong configuration file size: %lu (expected: %lu)\n", file.size, sizeof(config));
+		else printf("Wrong configuration file size: %lu (expected: %lu)\n", size, sizeof(config));
 	}
 	if (!result) {
 		BootPrint("Can not open configuration file!\n");
@@ -489,5 +489,5 @@ unsigned char SaveConfiguration(char *filename)
 		// use slot-based filename if none provided
 		filename = configfilename;
 	}
-	return FileSave(filename, &config, sizeof(config));
+	return FileSaveConfig(filename, &config, sizeof(config));
 }
diff --git a/file_io.c b/file_io.c
index 664a475..dc361ea 100644
--- a/file_io.c
+++ b/file_io.c
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include "osd.h"
 #include "fpga_io.h"
 #include "menu.h"
+#include "errno.h"
 
 int nDirEntries = 0;
 struct dirent DirItem[1000];
@@ -203,8 +204,7 @@ unsigned long FileWriteSec(fileTYPE *file, void *pBuffer)
 	return FileWriteAdv(file, pBuffer, 512);
 }
 
-
-unsigned char FileSave(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size)
+int FileSave(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size)
 {
 	sprintf(full_path, "%s/%s", getRootDir(), name);
 	int fd = open(full_path, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC | O_SYNC, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO);
@@ -215,14 +215,22 @@ unsigned char FileSave(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size)
 	}
 
 	int ret = write(fd, pBuffer, size);
+	close(fd);
+
 	if (ret < 0)
 	{
 		printf("FileSave(write) File:%s, error: %d.\n", full_path, ret);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	close(fd);
-	return 1;
+	return ret;
+}
+
+int FileSaveConfig(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size)
+{
+	char path[256] = { CONFIG_DIR"/" };
+	strcat(path, name);
+	return FileSave(path, pBuffer, size);
 }
 
 int FileLoad(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size)
@@ -240,20 +248,35 @@ int FileLoad(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size)
 	if (ret < 0)
 	{
 		printf("FileLoad(fstat) File:%s, error: %d.\n", full_path, ret);
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	ret = read(fd, pBuffer, size ? size : st.st_size);
-	if (ret < 0)
-	{
-		printf("FileLoad(write) File:%s, error: %d.\n", full_path, ret);
+		close(fd);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if (!pBuffer)
+	{
+		close(fd);
+		return (int)st.st_size;
+	}
+
+	ret = read(fd, pBuffer, size ? size : st.st_size);
 	close(fd);
+
+	if (ret < 0)
+	{
+		printf("FileLoad(read) File:%s, error: %d.\n", full_path, ret);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	return ret;
 }
 
+int FileLoadConfig(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size)
+{
+	char path[256] = { CONFIG_DIR"/" };
+	strcat(path, name);
+	return FileLoad(path, pBuffer, size);
+}
+
 int FileCanWrite(char *name)
 {
 	sprintf(full_path, "%s/%s", getRootDir(), name);
@@ -437,6 +460,11 @@ void FindStorage(void)
 	{
 		printf("Using SD card as a root device\n");
 	}
+
+	sprintf(full_path, "%s/"CONFIG_DIR, getRootDir());
+	DIR* dir = opendir(full_path);
+	if (dir) closedir(dir);
+	else if (ENOENT == errno) mkdir(full_path, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO);
 }
 
 int de_cmp(const void *e1, const void *e2)
diff --git a/file_io.h b/file_io.h
index b1d40b2..16398a6 100644
--- a/file_io.h
+++ b/file_io.h
@@ -55,11 +55,15 @@ unsigned long FileReadSec(fileTYPE *file, void *pBuffer);
 unsigned long FileWriteAdv(fileTYPE *file, void *pBuffer, unsigned long length);
 unsigned long FileWriteSec(fileTYPE *file, void *pBuffer);
 
-
 int FileCanWrite(char *name);
 
-unsigned char FileSave(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size);
-int FileLoad(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size);
+int FileSave(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size);
+int FileLoad(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size); // supply pBuffer = 0 to get the file size without loading
+
+//save/load from config dir
+#define CONFIG_DIR "config"
+int FileSaveConfig(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size);
+int FileLoadConfig(char *name, void *pBuffer, int size); // supply pBuffer = 0 to get the file size without loading
 
 void AdjustDirectory(char *path);
 int ScanDirectory(char* path, unsigned long mode, char *extension, unsigned char options);
diff --git a/input.c b/input.c
index 5baf7a3..fa34b38 100644
--- a/input.c
+++ b/input.c
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ void finish_map_setting()
 
 	char name[32];
 	sprintf(name, "input_%04x_%04x.map", input[mapping_dev].vid, input[mapping_dev].pid);
-	FileSave(name, &input[mapping_dev].map, sizeof(input[mapping_dev].map));
+	FileSaveConfig(name, &input[mapping_dev].map, sizeof(input[mapping_dev].map));
 }
 
 uint16_t get_map_vid()
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ static void input_cb(struct input_event *ev, int dev)
 	{
 		char name[32];
 		sprintf(name, "input_%04x_%04x.map", input[dev].vid, input[dev].pid);
-		if (!FileLoad(name, &input[dev].map, sizeof(input[dev].map)))
+		if (!FileLoadConfig(name, &input[dev].map, sizeof(input[dev].map)))
 		{
 			memset(&input[dev].map, 0, sizeof(input[dev].map));
 		}
diff --git a/menu.c b/menu.c
index 2faa1dd..f7801d2 100644
--- a/menu.c
+++ b/menu.c
@@ -1116,7 +1116,7 @@ void HandleUI(void)
 					char *filename = user_io_create_config_name();
 					unsigned long status = user_io_8bit_set_status(0, 0);
 					iprintf("Saving config to %s\n", filename);
-					FileSave(filename, &status, 4);
+					FileSaveConfig(filename, &status, 4);
 					menustate = MENU_8BIT_MAIN1;
 					menusub = 0;
 				}
@@ -2390,7 +2390,7 @@ void HandleUI(void)
 				char *filename = user_io_create_config_name();
 				unsigned long status = user_io_8bit_set_status(0, 0xffffffff);
 				iprintf("Saving config to %s\n", filename);
-				FileSave(filename, &status, 4);
+				FileSaveConfig(filename, &status, 4);
 				menustate = MENU_8BIT_MAIN1;
 				menusub = 0;
 			}
diff --git a/mist_cfg.c b/mist_cfg.c
index 7e0129a..08e28da 100644
--- a/mist_cfg.c
+++ b/mist_cfg.c
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ const ini_var_t mist_ini_vars[] = {
 
 // mist ini config
 const ini_cfg_t mist_ini_cfg = {
-	"MiSTer.ini",
+	CONFIG_DIR"/MiSTer.ini",
 	mist_ini_sections,
 	mist_ini_vars,
 	(int)(sizeof(mist_ini_sections) / sizeof(ini_section_t)),
diff --git a/tos.c b/tos.c
index 4c46433..01d9240 100644
--- a/tos.c
+++ b/tos.c
@@ -1121,8 +1121,6 @@ unsigned long tos_system_ctrl(void)
 
 void tos_config_init(void)
 {
-	fileTYPE file;
-
 	// set default values
 	config.system_ctrl = TOS_MEMCONFIG_4M | TOS_CONTROL_BLITTER;
 	memcpy(config.tos_img, "TOS.IMG", 12);
@@ -1132,14 +1130,14 @@ void tos_config_init(void)
 	config.video_adjust[0] = config.video_adjust[1] = 0;
 
 	// try to load config
-	if (FileOpen(&file, CONFIG_FILENAME))
+	int size = FileLoadConfig(CONFIG_FILENAME, 0, 0);
+	if (size>0)
 	{
-		tos_debugf("Configuration file size: %lu (should be %lu)", file.size, sizeof(tos_config_t));
-		if (file.size == sizeof(tos_config_t))
+		tos_debugf("Configuration file size: %lu (should be %lu)", size, sizeof(tos_config_t));
+		if (size == sizeof(tos_config_t))
 		{
-			FileReadAdv(&file, &config, file.size);
+			FileLoadConfig(CONFIG_FILENAME, &config, size);
 		}
-		FileClose(&file);
 	}
 
 	// ethernet is auto detected later
@@ -1149,5 +1147,5 @@ void tos_config_init(void)
 // save configuration
 void tos_config_save(void)
 {
-	FileSave(CONFIG_FILENAME, &config, sizeof(tos_config_t));
+	FileSaveConfig(CONFIG_FILENAME, &config, sizeof(tos_config_t));
 }
diff --git a/user_io.c b/user_io.c
index 5b390cf..1f5970b 100644
--- a/user_io.c
+++ b/user_io.c
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ void user_io_detect_core_type()
 		{
 			iprintf("Loading config %s\n", name);
 			unsigned long status = 0;
-			if (FileLoad(name, &status, 4))
+			if (FileLoadConfig(name, &status, 4))
 			{
 				iprintf("Found config\n");
 				user_io_8bit_set_status(status, 0xffffffff);