diff --git a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/MuWireSettings.groovy b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/MuWireSettings.groovy
index e60c3957..e26635ab 100644
--- a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/MuWireSettings.groovy
+++ b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/MuWireSettings.groovy
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ class MuWireSettings {
     final boolean isLeaf
     boolean allowUntrusted
     String nickname
+    File downloadLocation
     CrawlerResponse crawlerResponse
     
 	MuWireSettings() {
@@ -18,6 +19,8 @@ class MuWireSettings {
 		allowUntrusted = Boolean.valueOf(props.get("allowUntrusted","true"))
 		crawlerResponse = CrawlerResponse.valueOf(props.get("crawlerResponse","REGISTERED"))
         nickname = props.getProperty("nickname","MuWireUser")
+        downloadLocation = new File((String)props.getProperty("downloadLocation", 
+            System.getProperty("user.home")))
 	}
     
     void write(OutputStream out) throws IOException {
@@ -26,6 +29,7 @@ class MuWireSettings {
         props.setProperty("allowUntrusted", allowUntrusted.toString())
         props.setProperty("crawlerResponse", crawlerResponse.toString())
         props.setProperty("nickname", nickname)
+        props.setProperty("downloadLocation", downloadLocation.getAbsolutePath())
         props.store(out, "")
     }
 
diff --git a/gui/griffon-app/controllers/com/muwire/gui/MainFrameController.groovy b/gui/griffon-app/controllers/com/muwire/gui/MainFrameController.groovy
index b4fc9539..68367be4 100644
--- a/gui/griffon-app/controllers/com/muwire/gui/MainFrameController.groovy
+++ b/gui/griffon-app/controllers/com/muwire/gui/MainFrameController.groovy
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class MainFrameController {
         def resultsTable = builder.getVariable("results-table")
         int row = resultsTable.getSelectedRow()
         def result = model.results[row]
-        def file = new File(System.getProperty("user.home"), result.name) // TODO: move elsewhere
+        def file = new File(application.context.get("muwire-settings").downloadLocation, result.name) 
         core.eventBus.publish(new UIDownloadEvent(result : result, target : file))
     }
     
diff --git a/gui/griffon-app/lifecycle/Ready.groovy b/gui/griffon-app/lifecycle/Ready.groovy
index b472416c..b70c823c 100644
--- a/gui/griffon-app/lifecycle/Ready.groovy
+++ b/gui/griffon-app/lifecycle/Ready.groovy
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import com.muwire.core.MuWireSettings
 
 import javax.annotation.Nonnull
 import javax.inject.Inject
+import javax.swing.JFileChooser
 import javax.swing.JOptionPane
 
 import static griffon.util.GriffonApplicationUtils.isMacOSX
@@ -49,16 +50,31 @@ class Ready extends AbstractLifecycleHandler {
                         "Your nickname is displayed when you send search results so other MuWire users can choose to trust you",
                         "Please choose a nickname", JOptionPane.PLAIN_MESSAGE)
                 if (nickname == null || nickname.trim().length() == 0) {
-                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Nickname cannot be empty")
+                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Nickname cannot be empty", "Select another nickname", 
+                        JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE)
                     continue
                 }
                 if (nickname.contains("@")) {
-                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Nickname cannot contain @, choose another")
+                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Nickname cannot contain @, choose another", 
+                        "Select another nickname", JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE)
                     continue
                 }
                 nickname = nickname.trim()
                 break
             }
+            
+            while(true) {
+                def chooser = new JFileChooser()
+                chooser.setDialogTitle("Select a directory where downloads will be saved")
+                chooser.setFileSelectionMode(JFileChooser.DIRECTORIES_ONLY)
+                int rv = chooser.showOpenDialog(null)
+                if (rv != JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) {
+                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "MuWire will now exit")
+                    System.exit(0)
+                }
+                props.downloadLocation = chooser.getSelectedFile()
+                break
+            }
             props.setNickname(nickname)
             propsFile.withOutputStream {
                 props.write(it)