diff --git a/IPA.Loader/Config/Config.cs b/IPA.Loader/Config/Config.cs
index 90564ea9..a9114a19 100644
--- a/IPA.Loader/Config/Config.cs
+++ b/IPA.Loader/Config/Config.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Reflection;
+using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
 using IPA.Config.Providers;
 using IPA.Utilities;
 #if NET3
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ namespace IPA.Config
     {
         static Config()
         {
-            JsonConfigProvider.RegisterConfig();
+            //JsonConfigProvider.RegisterConfig();
         }
 
         /// <inheritdoc />
@@ -110,19 +111,18 @@ namespace IPA.Config
         /// <param name="type">the type to register</param>
         public static void Register(Type type)
         {
-            if (!(type.GetCustomAttribute(typeof(TypeAttribute)) is TypeAttribute ext))
-                throw new InvalidOperationException("Type does not have TypeAttribute");
+            var inst = Activator.CreateInstance(type) as IConfigProvider;
+            if (inst == null)
+                throw new ArgumentException($"Type not an {nameof(IConfigProvider)}");
 
-            if (!typeof(IConfigProvider).IsAssignableFrom(type))
-                throw new InvalidOperationException("Type not IConfigProvider");
+            if (registeredProviders.ContainsKey(inst.Extension))
+                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Extension provider for {inst.Extension} already exists");
 
-            if (registeredProviders.ContainsKey(ext.Extension))
-                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Extension provider for {ext.Extension} already exists");
-
-            registeredProviders.Add(ext.Extension, type);
+            registeredProviders.Add(inst.Extension, type);
         }
 
-        private static List<Tuple<Ref<DateTime>, IConfigProvider>> configProviders = new List<Tuple<Ref<DateTime>, IConfigProvider>>();
+        private static List<IConfigProvider> configProviders = new List<IConfigProvider>();
+        private static ConditionalWeakTable<IConfigProvider, FileInfo> file = new ConditionalWeakTable<IConfigProvider, FileInfo>();
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets an <see cref="IConfigProvider"/> using the specified list of preferred config types.
@@ -135,11 +135,9 @@ namespace IPA.Config
             var chosenExt = extensions.FirstOrDefault(s => registeredProviders.ContainsKey(s)) ?? "json";
             var type = registeredProviders[chosenExt];
             var provider = Activator.CreateInstance(type) as IConfigProvider;
-            if (provider != null)
-            {
-                provider.Filename = Path.Combine(BeatSaber.UserDataPath, configName);
-                configProviders.Add(Tuple.Create(Ref.Create(provider.LastModified), provider));
-            }
+            configProviders.Add(provider);
+
+            // TODO: rething this one a bit
 
             return provider;
         }
@@ -154,108 +152,5 @@ namespace IPA.Config
 
             return GetProviderFor(modName, prefs);
         }
-
-        private static Dictionary<IConfigProvider, Action> linkedProviders =
-            new Dictionary<IConfigProvider, Action>();
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Creates a linked <see cref="Ref{T}"/> for the config provider. This <see cref="Ref{T}"/> will be automatically updated whenever the file on-disk changes.
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">the type of the parsed value</typeparam>
-        /// <param name="config">the <see cref="IConfigProvider"/> to create a link to</param>
-        /// <param name="onChange">an action to perform on value change</param>
-        /// <returns>a <see cref="Ref{T}"/> to an ever-changing value, mirroring whatever the file contains.</returns>
-        public static Ref<T> MakeLink<T>(this IConfigProvider config, Action<IConfigProvider, Ref<T>> onChange = null)
-        { // TODO: rework this stuff
-            Ref<T> @ref = config.Parse<T>();
-            void ChangeDelegate()
-            {
-                @ref.Value = config.Parse<T>();
-                onChange?.Invoke(config, @ref);
-            }
-
-            if (linkedProviders.ContainsKey(config))
-                linkedProviders[config] = (Action) Delegate.Combine(linkedProviders[config], (Action) ChangeDelegate);
-            else
-                linkedProviders.Add(config, ChangeDelegate);
-
-            ChangeDelegate();
-
-            return @ref;
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Removes all linked <see cref="Ref{T}"/> such that they are no longer updated.
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="config">the <see cref="IConfigProvider"/> to unlink</param>
-        public static void RemoveLinks(this IConfigProvider config)
-        {
-            if (linkedProviders.ContainsKey(config))
-                linkedProviders.Remove(config);
-        }
-
-        internal static void Update()
-        {
-            foreach (var provider in configProviders)
-            {
-                if (provider.Item2.LastModified > provider.Item1.Value)
-                {
-                    try
-                    {
-                        provider.Item2.Load(); // auto reload if it changes
-                        provider.Item1.Value = provider.Item2.LastModified;
-                    }
-                    catch (Exception e)
-                    {
-                        Logging.Logger.config.Error("Error when trying to load config");
-                        Logging.Logger.config.Error(e);
-                    }
-                }
-                if (provider.Item2.HasChanged)
-                {
-                    try
-                    {
-                        provider.Item2.Save();
-                        provider.Item1.Value = Utils.CurrentTime();
-                    }
-                    catch (Exception e)
-                    {
-                        Logging.Logger.config.Error("Error when trying to save config");
-                        Logging.Logger.config.Error(e);
-                    }
-                }
-
-                if (provider.Item2.InMemoryChanged)
-                {
-                    provider.Item2.InMemoryChanged = false;
-                    try
-                    {
-                        if (linkedProviders.ContainsKey(provider.Item2))
-                            linkedProviders[provider.Item2]();
-                    }
-                    catch (Exception e)
-                    {
-                        Logging.Logger.config.Error("Error running link change events");
-                        Logging.Logger.config.Error(e);
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        internal static void Save()
-        {
-            foreach (var provider in configProviders)
-                if (provider.Item2.HasChanged)
-                    try
-                    {
-                        provider.Item2.Save();
-                    }
-                    catch (Exception e)
-                    {
-                        Logging.Logger.config.Error("Error when trying to save config");
-                        Logging.Logger.config.Error(e);
-                    }
-        }
-
     }
 }
diff --git a/IPA.Loader/Config/IConfigProvider.cs b/IPA.Loader/Config/IConfigProvider.cs
index 69ff72c8..710145f6 100644
--- a/IPA.Loader/Config/IConfigProvider.cs
+++ b/IPA.Loader/Config/IConfigProvider.cs
@@ -1,63 +1,49 @@
 using System;
-// ReSharper disable UnusedMember.Global
+using System.IO;
+using IPA.Config.Data;
 
 namespace IPA.Config
 {
     /// <summary>
     /// An interface for configuration providers.
     /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// Implementers must provide a default constructor. Do not assume that <see cref="File"/> will ever be set for a given object.
+    /// </remarks>
     public interface IConfigProvider
-    { // TODO: rework this
+    {
         /// <summary>
-        /// Loads the data provided by this <see cref="IConfigProvider"/> into an object of type <typeparamref name="T"/>.
+        /// Gets the extension <i>without</i> a dot to use for files handled by this provider.
         /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">the type of the object to parse into</typeparam>
-        /// <returns>the values from the config provider parsed into the object</returns>
-        T Parse<T>();
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Stores the data from <paramref name="obj"/> into the <see cref="IConfigProvider"/>.
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <typeparam name="T">the type of <paramref name="obj"/></typeparam>
-        /// <param name="obj">the object containing the data to save</param>
-        void Store<T>(T obj);
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// This must work immediately, and is used to generate the <see cref="FileInfo"/> used to set
+        /// <see cref="File"/>.
+        /// </remarks>
+        string Extension { get; }
 
-#if NET4
         /// <summary>
-        /// Gets a dynamic object providing access to the configuration.
+        /// Sets the file that this provider will read and write to.
         /// </summary>
-        /// <value>a dynamically bound object to use to access config values directly</value>
-        dynamic Dynamic { get; }
-#endif
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// The provider is expected to gracefully handle this changing at any point, 
+        /// and is expected to close any old file handles when this is reassigned.
+        /// This may be set to the same file multiple times in this object's lifetime.
+        /// This will always have been set at least once before any calls to <see cref="Load"/>
+        /// or <see cref="Store"/> are made.
+        /// </remarks>
+        FileInfo File { set; }
 
-#region State getters
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Returns <see langword="true"/> if object has changed since the last save
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <value><see langword="true"/> if object has changed since the last save, else <see langword="false"/></value>
-        bool HasChanged { get; }
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Returns <see langword="true"/> if the data in memory has been changed - notably including loads.
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <value><see langword="true"/> if the data in memory has been changed, else <see langword="false"/></value>
-        bool InMemoryChanged { get; set; }
         /// <summary>
-        /// Will be set with the filename (no extension) to save to. When saving, the implementation should add the appropriate extension. Should error if set multiple times.
+        /// Stores the <see cref="Value"/> given to disk in the format specified.
         /// </summary>
-        /// <value>the extensionless filename to save to</value>
-        string Filename { set; }
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Gets the last time the config was modified.
-        /// </summary>
-        /// <value>the last time the config file was modified</value>
-        DateTime LastModified { get; }
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Saves configuration to file. Should error if not a root object.
-        /// </summary>
-        void Save();
+        /// <param name="value">the <see cref="Value"/> to store</param>
+        void Store(Value value);
+
         /// <summary>
-        /// Loads the state of the file on disk.
+        /// Loads a <see cref="Value"/> from disk in whatever format this provider provides
+        /// and returns it.
         /// </summary>
-        void Load();
-#endregion
+        /// <returns>the <see cref="Value"/> loaded</returns>
+        Value Load();
     }
 }
diff --git a/IPA.Loader/Config/Providers/JsonConfigProvider.cs b/IPA.Loader/Config/Providers/JsonConfigProvider.cs
index 7daa9227..1ef6e04a 100644
--- a/IPA.Loader/Config/Providers/JsonConfigProvider.cs
+++ b/IPA.Loader/Config/Providers/JsonConfigProvider.cs
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ using System.ComponentModel;
 using System.IO;
 
 namespace IPA.Config.Providers
-{
-    [Config.Type("json")]
+{ // TODO: implement this for the new provider system
+    /*[Config.Type("json")]
     internal class JsonConfigProvider : IConfigProvider
     {
         public static void RegisterConfig()
@@ -123,5 +123,5 @@ namespace IPA.Config.Providers
             HasChanged = true;
             InMemoryChanged = true;
         }
-    }
+    }*/
 }
\ No newline at end of file