diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7e90f17..f8bfb56 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ web_root = /var/www/html
 # warning: this will overwrite any existing index.html files so be sure
 # to choose a directory that doesn't have an existing website.
 #
+buffer_path = /tmp
+# this is the work directory the app will use to store live footage and
+# image frames. it's recommended to use a ram disk for this since there
+# will be large amounts of io occuring here.
+#
 cam_name = cam-1
 # this is the optional camera name parameter to identify the camera. this
 # name will also be used to as the base directory in web_root. if not
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index f83e5aa..f7eb291 100644
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-apt install apache2
 if [ ! -d "/opt/mow" ]; then
   mkdir /opt/mow
 fi
 cp ./.build-mow/mow /opt/mow/bin
 printf "#!/bin/sh\n" > /opt/mow/run
-printf "export OPENCV_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG\n" >> /opt/mow/run
-printf "export OPENCV_VIDEOIO_DEBUG=1\n" >> /opt/mow/run
 printf "/opt/mow/bin \$1 \$2 \$3\n" >> /opt/mow/run
 chmod +x /opt/mow/run
 chmod +x /opt/mow/bin
diff --git a/src/camera.cpp b/src/camera.cpp
index 173e141..b555fa8 100644
--- a/src/camera.cpp
+++ b/src/camera.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ Camera::Camera(QObject *parent) : QObject(parent)
     shared.skipCmd    = false;
     shared.postSecs   = 60;
     shared.evMaxSecs  = 30;
+    shared.buffPath   = QDir::tempPath();
     shared.webRoot    = "/var/www/html";
     shared.webBg      = "#485564";
     shared.webTxt     = "#dee5ee";
@@ -37,14 +38,6 @@ int Camera::start(const QStringList &args)
 
     if (rdConf(&shared))
     {
-        QDir("live").removeRecursively();
-        QDir("img").removeRecursively();
-
-        QDir().mkdir("live");
-        QDir().mkdir("events");
-        QDir().mkdir("logs");
-        QDir().mkdir("img");
-
         auto thr1 = new QThread(nullptr);
         auto thr2 = new QThread(nullptr);
         auto thr3 = new QThread(nullptr);
@@ -215,11 +208,6 @@ Upkeep::Upkeep(shared_t *sharedRes, QThread *thr, QObject *parent) : Loop(shared
 
 bool Upkeep::exec()
 {
-    QDir().mkdir("live");
-    QDir().mkdir("events");
-    QDir().mkdir("logs");
-    QDir().mkdir("img");
-
     enforceMaxLogSize(QString("logs/") + REC_LOG_NAME, shared);
     enforceMaxLogSize(QString("logs/") + DET_LOG_NAME, shared);
 
diff --git a/src/common.cpp b/src/common.cpp
index c57b72f..b4aaa1b 100644
--- a/src/common.cpp
+++ b/src/common.cpp
@@ -167,6 +167,21 @@ void rdLine(const QString &param, const QString &line, int *value)
     }
 }
 
+void touch(const QString &path)
+{
+    if (!QFile::exists(path))
+    {
+        QFile file(path);
+
+        if (file.open(QFile::WriteOnly))
+        {
+            file.write("");
+        }
+
+        file.close();
+    }
+}
+
 bool rdConf(const QString &filePath, shared_t *share)
 {
     QFile varFile(filePath);
@@ -189,6 +204,7 @@ bool rdConf(const QString &filePath, shared_t *share)
             {
                 rdLine("cam_name = ",         line, &share->camName);
                 rdLine("recording_stream = ", line, &share->recordUrl);
+                rdLine("buffer_path = ",      line, &share->buffPath);
                 rdLine("web_root = ",         line, &share->webRoot);
                 rdLine("web_text = ",         line, &share->webTxt);
                 rdLine("web_bg = ",           line, &share->webBg);
@@ -217,10 +233,29 @@ bool rdConf(shared_t *share)
         }
 
         share->outDir = QDir().cleanPath(share->webRoot) + "/" + share->camName;
+        share->tmpDir = share->buffPath + "/" + APP_BIN + "/" + share->camName;
 
         QDir().mkpath(share->outDir);
+        QDir().mkpath(share->tmpDir);
 
-        if (!QDir::setCurrent(share->outDir))
+        QDir().mkpath(share->outDir + "/events");
+        QDir().mkpath(share->tmpDir + "/live");
+        QDir().mkpath(share->tmpDir + "/logs");
+        QDir().mkpath(share->tmpDir + "/img");
+
+        touch(share->tmpDir + "/index.html");
+        touch(share->tmpDir + "/stream.html");
+        touch(share->tmpDir + "/stream.m3u8");
+
+        QFile::link(share->tmpDir + "/live",        share->outDir + "/live");
+        QFile::link(share->tmpDir + "/logs",        share->outDir + "/logs");
+        QFile::link(share->tmpDir + "/img",         share->outDir + "/img");
+        QFile::link(share->tmpDir + "/index.html",  share->outDir + "/index.html");
+        QFile::link(share->tmpDir + "/stream.html", share->outDir + "/stream.html");
+        QFile::link(share->tmpDir + "/stream.m3u8", share->outDir + "/stream.m3u8");
+        QFile::link(share->outDir + "/events",      share->tmpDir + "/events");
+
+        if (!QDir::setCurrent(share->tmpDir))
         {
             QTextStream(stderr) << "err: failed to change/create the current working directory to camera folder: '" << share->outDir << "' does it exists?" << Qt::endl;
 
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 1e4f78d..da44e3f 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-#define APP_VER      "3.1.t1"
+#define APP_VER      "3.1.t2"
 #define APP_NAME     "Motion Watch"
 #define APP_BIN      "mow"
 #define REC_LOG_NAME "rec_log_lines.html"
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ struct shared_t
     QString      detLog;
     QString      recordUrl;
     QString      outDir;
+    QString      tmpDir;
+    QString      buffPath;
     QString      postCmd;
     QString      camName;
     QString      webBg;
@@ -81,6 +83,7 @@ QStringList backwardFacingFiles(const QString &path, const QString &ext, const Q
 QStringList forwardFacingFiles(const QString &path, const QString &ext, const QDateTime &stamp, int secs);
 bool        rdConf(const QString &filePath, shared_t *share);
 bool        rdConf(shared_t *share);
+void        touch(const QString &path);
 void        rdLine(const QString &param, const QString &line, QString *value);
 void        rdLine(const QString &param, const QString &line, int *value);
 void        enforceMaxEvents(shared_t *share);