diff --git a/tools/auto-tester/src/TestRunner.cpp b/tools/auto-tester/src/TestRunner.cpp
index abd7d07c6b..dfe4e4fea3 100644
--- a/tools/auto-tester/src/TestRunner.cpp
+++ b/tools/auto-tester/src/TestRunner.cpp
@@ -20,9 +20,17 @@ TestRunner::TestRunner(QObject *parent) : QObject(parent) {
 }
 
 void TestRunner::run() {
-    saveExistingHighFidelityAppDataFolder();
+    // Initial setup
+    _branch = autoTester->getSelectedBranch();
+    _user = autoTester->getSelectedUser();
+
+    // Everything will be written to this folder
     selectTemporaryFolder();
+
+    // This will be restored at the end of the tests
+    saveExistingHighFidelityAppDataFolder();
     
+    // Download the latest High Fidelity installer
     QStringList urls;
     urls << INSTALLER_URL;
 
@@ -31,19 +39,23 @@ void TestRunner::run() {
 
     autoTester->downloadFiles(urls, _tempFolder, filenames, (void *)this);
 
-    // After  download has finished, `installerDownloadComplete` will run after download complete
+    // `installerDownloadComplete` will run after download has completed
 }
 
 void TestRunner::installerDownloadComplete() {
-    runInstaller();
-    createSnapshotFolder();
+    // Kill any existing processes that would interfere with installation
     killProcesses();
+
+    runInstaller();
+    
+    createSnapshotFolder();
+
     startLocalServerProcesses();
     runInterfaceWithTestScript();
+    killProcesses();
 
     evaluateResults();
 
-    killProcesses();
     restoreHighFidelityAppDataFolder();
 }
 
@@ -76,11 +88,13 @@ void TestRunner::saveExistingHighFidelityAppDataFolder() {
     // The original folder is saved in a unique name
     _savedAppDataFolder = dataDirectory + "/" + UNIQUE_FOLDER_NAME;
     _appDataFolder.rename(_appDataFolder.path(), _savedAppDataFolder.path());
+
+    // Copy an "empty" AppData folder (i.e. no entities)
+    copyFolder(QDir::currentPath() +  "/AppDataHighFidelity", _appDataFolder.path());
 }
 
 void TestRunner::restoreHighFidelityAppDataFolder() {
-    QDir().rmdir(_appDataFolder.path());
-
+    _appDataFolder.removeRecursively();
     _appDataFolder.rename(_savedAppDataFolder.path(), _appDataFolder.path());
 }
 
@@ -103,7 +117,21 @@ void TestRunner::selectTemporaryFolder() {
 
 void TestRunner::createSnapshotFolder() {
     _snapshotFolder = _tempFolder + "/" + SNAPSHOT_FOLDER_NAME;
-    QDir().mkdir(_snapshotFolder);
+
+    // Just delete all PNGs from the folder if it already exists
+    if (QDir(_snapshotFolder).exists()) {
+        // Note that we cannot use just a `png` filter, as the filenames include periods
+        QDirIterator it(_snapshotFolder.toStdString().c_str());
+        while (it.hasNext()) {
+            QString filename = it.next();
+            if (filename.right(4) == ".png") {
+                QFile::remove(filename);
+            }
+        }
+
+    } else {
+        QDir().mkdir(_snapshotFolder);
+    }
 }
 
 void TestRunner::killProcesses() {
@@ -120,15 +148,13 @@ void TestRunner::killProcessByName(QString processName) {
 }
 
 void TestRunner::startLocalServerProcesses() {
-    QDir::setCurrent(_tempFolder);
-
 #ifdef Q_OS_WIN
     QString commandLine;
 
-    commandLine = "start \"domain-server.exe\" domain-server.exe";
+    commandLine = "start \"domain-server.exe\" " + QDir::toNativeSeparators(_tempFolder) + "\\domain-server.exe";
     system(commandLine.toStdString().c_str());
 
-    commandLine = "start \"assignment-client.exe\" assignment-client.exe -n 6";
+    commandLine = "start \"assignment-client.exe\" " + QDir::toNativeSeparators(_tempFolder) + "\\assignment-client.exe -n 6";
     system(commandLine.toStdString().c_str());
 #endif
     // Give server processes time to stabilize
@@ -136,14 +162,11 @@ void TestRunner::startLocalServerProcesses() {
 }
 
 void TestRunner::runInterfaceWithTestScript() {
-    QDir::setCurrent(_tempFolder);
-    _branch = autoTester->getSelectedBranch();
-    _user = autoTester->getSelectedUser();
-
 #ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-    QString commandLine = "interface.exe --url hifi://localhost --testScript https://raw.githubusercontent.com/" + _user +
-                          "/hifi_tests/" + _branch + "/tests/testRecursive.js quitWhenFinished --testResultsLocation " +
-                          _snapshotFolder;
+        QString commandLine = QDir::toNativeSeparators(_tempFolder) +
+                              "\\interface.exe --url hifi://localhost --testScript https://raw.githubusercontent.com/" + _user +
+                              "/hifi_tests/" + _branch + "/tests/testRecursive.js quitWhenFinished --testResultsLocation " +
+                              _snapshotFolder;
 
     system(commandLine.toStdString().c_str());
 #endif
@@ -152,3 +175,35 @@ void TestRunner::runInterfaceWithTestScript() {
 void TestRunner::evaluateResults() {
     autoTester->runFromCommandLine(_snapshotFolder, _branch, _user);
 }
+
+// Copies a folder recursively
+void TestRunner::copyFolder(const QString& source, const QString& destination) {
+    try {
+        if (!QFileInfo(source).isDir()) {
+            // just a file copy
+            QFile::copy(source, destination);
+        } else {
+            QDir destinationDir(destination);
+            if (!destinationDir.cdUp()) {
+                throw("'source '" + source + "'seems to be a root folder");
+            }
+
+            if (!destinationDir.mkdir(QFileInfo(destination).fileName())) {
+                throw("Could not create destination folder '" + destination + "'");
+            }
+
+            QStringList fileNames =
+                QDir(source).entryList(QDir::Files | QDir::Dirs | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot | QDir::Hidden | QDir::System);
+
+            foreach (const QString& fileName, fileNames) {
+                copyFolder(QString(source + "/" + fileName), QString(destination + "/" + fileName));
+            }
+        }
+    } catch (QString errorMessage) {
+        QMessageBox::critical(0, "Internal error: " + QString(__FILE__) + ":" + QString::number(__LINE__), errorMessage);
+        exit(-1);
+    } catch (...) {
+        QMessageBox::critical(0, "Internal error: " + QString(__FILE__) + ":" + QString::number(__LINE__), "unknown error");
+        exit(-1);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/auto-tester/src/TestRunner.h b/tools/auto-tester/src/TestRunner.h
index e9214b8cb7..087e5f089b 100644
--- a/tools/auto-tester/src/TestRunner.h
+++ b/tools/auto-tester/src/TestRunner.h
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ public:
     void runInterfaceWithTestScript();
     void evaluateResults();
 
+    void copyFolder(const QString& source, const QString& destination);
+
 private:
     QDir _appDataFolder;
     QDir _savedAppDataFolder;