diff --git a/dev.default.js b/dev.default.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..60f0b3334
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev.default.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE
+// Copy this file to dev.js to make modifications
+
+const Path = require('path')
+module.exports.config = {
+  Port: 3333, // Using port 3333 is important when running the client web app separately
+  ConfigPath: Path.resolve('config'),
+  MetadataPath: Path.resolve('metadata'),
+  FFmpegPath: 'ffmpeg', // On Windows, use 'C:\\<path_to_ffmpeg>\\ffmpeg.exe'
+  FFProbePath: 'ffprobe'
+}
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 19a24d820..777d70889 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 const server = require('./server/Server')
+const fs = require('fs')
 global.appRoot = __dirname
 
 const isDev = process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production'
 if (isDev) {
-  const devEnv = require('./dev').config
+  const devFile = fs.existsSync('./dev.js') ? './dev' : './dev.default'
+  const devEnv = require(devFile).config
   process.env.NODE_ENV = 'development'
   process.env.PORT = devEnv.Port
   process.env.CONFIG_PATH = devEnv.ConfigPath