diff --git a/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/AdminPropertiesSetter.java b/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/AdminPropertiesSetter.java
index 12d1c50da..69121cd6e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/AdminPropertiesSetter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/AdminPropertiesSetter.java
@@ -1,30 +1,27 @@
 package org.cryptomator.launcher;
 
-import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
-import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
-import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.json.JsonMapper;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.SystemUtils;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 /**
  * Class to overwrite system properties with an external properties file
  * <p>
- * To overwrite system properties, the method {@link #adjustSystemProperties()} loads the JSON file {@value CONFIG_NAME} from an OS-dependent location and adds all whitelisted properties to the {@link System} properties.
- * The predefined locations are:
- * <ul>
- *     <li>Linux - {@value LINUX_DIR }</li>
- *    <li>macOS - {@value MAC_DIR }</li>
- *    <li>Windows - {@value WIN_DIR }</li>
- * </ul>
+ * To overwrite system properties, the method {@link #adjustSystemProperties()} loads the properties file {@value CONFIG_NAME} from an OS-dependent location and adds all supported properties to the {@link System} properties.
+ * The predefined location is for
+ *     <ul>
+ *         <li>Linux: {@value LINUX_DIR }</li>
+ *         <li>macOS: {@value MAC_DIR }</li>
+ *         <li>Windows: {@value WIN_DIR }</li>
+ *     </ul>
  * </p>
  * <p>
  * The overridable properties are:
@@ -40,12 +37,12 @@ import java.util.Set;
  */
 class AdminPropertiesSetter {
 
-	private static final ObjectMapper JSON = JsonMapper.builder().build();
+	private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(AdminPropertiesSetter.class);
 
 	private static final String LINUX_DIR = "/etc/cryptomator";
 	private static final String MAC_DIR = "/Library/Application Support/Cryptomator";
-	private static final String WIN_DIR = "%PROGRAMDATA%\\Cryptomator";
-	private static final String CONFIG_NAME = "config.json";
+	private static final String WIN_DIR = "C:\\ProgramData\\Cryptomator";
+	private static final String CONFIG_NAME = "config.properties";
 	private static final Set<String> ALLOWED_OVERRIDES = Set.of( //
 			"cryptomator.logDir", //
 			"cryptomator.pluginDir", //
@@ -57,7 +54,7 @@ class AdminPropertiesSetter {
 	static {
 		final Path adminDir;
 		if (SystemUtils.IS_OS_WINDOWS) {
-			adminDir = Path.of(System.getenv().getOrDefault("ProgramData", "C:\\ProgramData"), "Cryptomator");
+			adminDir = Path.of(WIN_DIR);
 		} else if (SystemUtils.IS_OS_MAC) {
 			adminDir = Path.of(MAC_DIR);
 		} else { //LINUX
@@ -71,7 +68,7 @@ class AdminPropertiesSetter {
 	/**
 	 * Adjusts the system properties by loading administrative properties from a predefined file location.
 	 * <p>
-	 * If the file exists and is a valid JSON file, its content will overwrite existing system properties.
+	 * If the file exists and is a valid properties file, its content will overwrite existing system properties.
 	 * Only some properties can be overridden, see {@link AdminPropertiesSetter}
 	 *
 	 * @return The adjusted system properties.
@@ -80,35 +77,29 @@ class AdminPropertiesSetter {
 		var systemProps = System.getProperties();
 		var adminProps = loadAdminProperties(ADMIN_PROPERTIES_FILE);
 
-		adminProps.forEach((key, value) -> {
-			if (ALLOWED_OVERRIDES.contains(key) && value instanceof String v) {
-				log("Overwriting {} with value {} from admin properties.", List.of(key, v));
-				systemProps.setProperty(key, v);
+		for (var key : adminProps.stringPropertyNames()) {
+			if (ALLOWED_OVERRIDES.contains(key)) {
+				var value = adminProps.getProperty(key);
+				LOG.info("Overwriting {} with value {} from admin properties.", key, value);
+				systemProps.setProperty(key, value);
 			} else {
-				var reason = value instanceof String ? "Unsupported" : "Not a string";
-				log("Property {} in admin config ignored: {}.", List.of(key, reason));
+				LOG.debug("Property {} in admin properties is not supported for override.", key);
 			}
-		});
+		}
 		return systemProps;
 	}
 
-	static Map<String, Object> loadAdminProperties(Path adminPropertiesPath) {
-		try (var in = Files.newInputStream(adminPropertiesPath, StandardOpenOption.READ)) {
-			var map = JSON.readValue(in, new TypeReference<Map<String, Object>>() {});
-			if (map == null) {
-				throw new NullPointerException("JSON parsing returned null");
-			}
-			return map;
+	private static Properties loadAdminProperties(Path adminPropertiesPath) {
+		var adminProps = new Properties();
+		try (var reader = Files.newBufferedReader(adminPropertiesPath, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) {
+			adminProps.load(reader);
 		} catch (NoSuchFileException _) {
 			//NO-OP
-			log("No admin properties found at {}.", List.of(adminPropertiesPath));
-		} catch (IOException | RuntimeException e) {
-			log("Failed to read administrative properties from {}. Returning empty properties.", List.of(adminPropertiesPath, e));
+			LOG.debug("No admin properties found at  {}.", adminPropertiesPath);
+		} catch (IOException | IllegalArgumentException e) {
+			LOG.warn("Failed to read administrative properties from {}. Returning empty properties.", adminPropertiesPath, e);
 		}
-		return Map.of();
+		return adminProps;
 	}
 
-	static void log(String message, List<Object> messageInput) {
-		BufferedLog.log(AdminPropertiesSetter.class.getName(), message, messageInput);
-	}
 }