diff --git a/dataSync.py b/dataSync.py
index 48d60dacf2cd913d972bf836a086f82bfc16d637..ecd15997481369083dd65c957d65507be0418177 100755
--- a/dataSync.py
+++ b/dataSync.py
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ def xtract():
 	for root, dirs, files in os.walk(INPUTDIR): #walk recursively
 		for file in files:
 			if file.endswith(".tgz"):
-				file=INPUTDIR+file
+				file=INPUTDIR + os.sep + file
 				print(f"xtracting {file}\n")
 				cmd_xtract=f"tar -zxvf {file} --directory {INPUTDIR}"
 				os.system(cmd_xtract)
@@ -455,7 +455,6 @@ def xtract():
 def getFileList():
 
 	animalFile, skyglowFile, trackFiles = '','',[]
-	# xtract()
 	print( "Looking for 'skyglow.log', 'tags' or files containing 'unit-X'" )
 	for root, dirs, files in os.walk(INPUTDIR): #walk recursively
 		for file in files:
@@ -481,6 +480,7 @@ def getFileList():
 
 def main():
 
+	xtract()
 	animalFile, skyglowFile, trackFiles = getFileList()
 	data = Data(animalFile,skyglowFile,trackFiles)
 	data.merge()