diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a3fc253..b76a57e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -27,11 +27,10 @@
   "scripts": {
     "test": "bun test test/**/*.test.js",
     "setup": "node scripts/init-env.js && pwsh -File scripts/setup-llama-server-vulkan.ps1 && pwsh -File scripts/setup-model.ps1",
-    "dev": "tauri dev --config src/backend/tauri.conf.json",
-    "build": "tauri build --config src/backend/tauri.conf.json",
+    "dev": "node scripts/prepare-resources.cjs && tauri dev --config src/backend/tauri.conf.json",
+    "build": "node scripts/prepare-resources.cjs && tauri build --config src/backend/tauri.conf.json",
     "tauri": "tauri",
     "release": "node scripts/release.js",
-    "mcp:install": "node scripts/install-mcp.js",
     "test:watch": "bun test --watch test/**/*.test.js"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
diff --git a/scripts/prepare-resources.cjs b/scripts/prepare-resources.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e7924a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/prepare-resources.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const projectRoot = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
+const targetDir = path.resolve(projectRoot, 'src/backend/bundled_resources');
+
+function copyRecursiveSync(src, dest) {
+    const stats = fs.statSync(src);
+    if (stats.isDirectory()) {
+        if (!fs.existsSync(dest)) {
+            fs.mkdirSync(dest, { recursive: true });
+        }
+        fs.readdirSync(src).forEach(childItemName => {
+            copyRecursiveSync(path.join(src, childItemName), path.join(dest, childItemName));
+        });
+    } else {
+        fs.copyFileSync(src, dest);
+    }
+}
+
+// Ensure target directory exists
+if (fs.existsSync(targetDir)) {
+    fs.rmSync(targetDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+}
+fs.mkdirSync(targetDir, { recursive: true });
+
+// 1. Copy DLLs from bin/ to targetDir (flat)
+const binDir = path.join(projectRoot, 'bin');
+if (fs.existsSync(binDir)) {
+    fs.readdirSync(binDir).forEach(file => {
+        if (file.endsWith('.dll')) {
+            const src = path.join(binDir, file);
+            const dest = path.join(targetDir, file);
+            console.log(`Copying ${src} to ${dest}`);
+            fs.copyFileSync(src, dest);
+        }
+    });
+}
+
+// 2. Copy everything from resources/ to targetDir (preserving structure)
+const resDir = path.join(projectRoot, 'resources');
+if (fs.existsSync(resDir)) {
+    fs.readdirSync(resDir).forEach(child => {
+        const src = path.join(resDir, child);
+        const dest = path.join(targetDir, child);
+        console.log(`Copying ${src} to ${dest}`);
+        copyRecursiveSync(src, dest);
+    });
+}
+
+console.log('Resource preparation complete.');
diff --git a/src/backend/src/lib.rs b/src/backend/src/lib.rs
index 246a901..f1e09de 100644
--- a/src/backend/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/backend/src/lib.rs
@@ -208,19 +208,13 @@
         exe_dir.display().to_string(),
     ];
     
-    // Also include potential nested bin folders
-    path_candidates.push(res_dir.join("bin").display().to_string());
-    path_candidates.push(exe_dir.join("bin").display().to_string());
-    // Also include parent (one level up from resources/exe dir)
-    if let Some(parent) = res_dir.parent() {
-        path_candidates.push(parent.display().to_string());
-    }
-    if let Some(parent) = exe_dir.parent() {
-        path_candidates.push(parent.display().to_string());
-    }
+    // Also include potential nested bin/resources folders
+    path_candidates.push(res_dir.join("resources").display().to_string());
+    path_candidates.push(exe_dir.join("resources").display().to_string());
 
-    let new_path = format!("{};{}", path_candidates.join(";"), old_path);
-    log::info!("Diagnostic: New Sidecar PATH: {}", new_path);
+    // Normalize paths to remove UNC prefix (\\?\) which can break some programs on Windows
+    let new_path = format!("{};{}", path_candidates.join(";"), old_path).replace("\\\\?\\", "");
+    log::info!("Diagnostic: New Sidecar PATH (normalized): {}", new_path);
     
     let mut sidecar_cmd = sidecar.args(args).env("PATH", new_path);
     
diff --git a/src/backend/tauri.conf.json b/src/backend/tauri.conf.json
index b65e60e..ce0fd96 100644
--- a/src/backend/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/src/backend/tauri.conf.json
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     "active": true,
     "targets": "all",
     "externalBin": ["../../bin/llama-server"],
-    "resources": ["../../resources/*", "../../bin/*.dll"],
+    "resources": ["bundled_resources/*"],
     "icon": [
       "../../resources/icons/32x32.png",
       "../../resources/icons/128x128.png",