diff --git a/processing/build/windows/dist/run.bat b/processing/build/windows/dist/run.bat
index 1b26a32a3..d64148f53 100755
--- a/processing/build/windows/dist/run.bat
+++ b/processing/build/windows/dist/run.bat
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ REM --- if you need more ram, change the 64m (which means
 REM --- 64 megabytes) to something higher. 
 
 set SAVEDCP=%CLASSPATH%
-set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;java\lib\rt.jar;lib;lib\build;lib\pde.jar;lib\kjc.jar;lib\antlr.jar;lib\oro.jar;lib\comm.jar;c:\winnt\system32\qtjava.zip;c:\windows\system32\qtjava.zip
+REM set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;java\lib\rt.jar;lib;lib\build;lib\pde.jar;lib\kjc.jar;lib\antlr.jar;lib\oro.jar;lib\comm.jar;c:\winnt\system32\qtjava.zip;c:\windows\system32\qtjava.zip
+set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;java\lib\rt.jar;lib;lib\build;lib\pde.jar;lib\kjc.jar;lib\antlr.jar;lib\oro.jar;lib\comm.jar;%QTJAVA%
 
 java -ms64m -mx64m PdeBase
 
diff --git a/processing/build/windows/launcher/launcher.cpp b/processing/build/windows/launcher/launcher.cpp
index 9b57a08b4..02560d3dd 100644
--- a/processing/build/windows/launcher/launcher.cpp
+++ b/processing/build/windows/launcher/launcher.cpp
@@ -39,20 +39,77 @@ WinMain (HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE hPrev, LPSTR lpCmd, int nShow)
   *(strrchr(loaddir, '\\')) = '\0';
 
   char *cp = (char *)malloc(8 * strlen(loaddir) + 200);
-  // put quotes around contents of cp, 
-  // because %s might have spaces in it.
+
+
+  // if this code looks shitty, that's because it is.
+  // people put the durndest things in their CLASSPATH and
+  // QTJAVA environment variables. who knows where and
+  // when the quotes will show up. this is a guess at 
+  // dealing with the things, without spending a whole
+  // day to make it overly robust. [fry]
+
 
   // test to see if running with a java runtime nearby or not
-
   char *testpath = (char *)malloc(MAX_PATH * sizeof(char));
   *testpath = 0;
   strcpy(testpath, loaddir);
   strcat(testpath, "\\java\\bin\\java.exe");
   FILE *fp = fopen(testpath, "rb");
-  int localJreInstalled = (fp != NULL);
+  int local_jre_installed = (fp != NULL);
+  //char *rt_jar = (fp == NULL) ? "" : "java\\lib\\rt.jar;";
+  fclose(fp); // argh! this was probably causing trouble
 
-  const char *envClasspath = getenv("CLASSPATH");
+
+  //const char *envClasspath = getenv("CLASSPATH");
+  char *env_classpath = (char *)malloc(256 * sizeof(char));
+  if (getenv("CLASSPATH") != NULL) {
+    strcpy(env_classpath, getenv("CLASSPATH"));
+    if (env_classpath[0] == '\"') {
+      // starting quote in classpath.. yech
+      env_classpath++;  // shitty.. i know..
+
+      int len = strlen(env_classpath);
+      if (env_classpath[len-1] == '\"') {
+        env_classpath[len-1] = 0;
+      } else {
+        // a starting quote but no ending quote.. ugh
+        // maybe throw an error
+      }
+    }
+    int last = strlen(env_classpath);
+    env_classpath[last++] = ';';
+    env_classpath[last] = 0;
+  } else {
+    env_classpath[0] = 0;
+  }
+
+
+  char *env_qtjava = (char *)malloc(256 * sizeof(char));
+  if (getenv("QTJAVA") != NULL) {
+    strcpy(env_qtjava, getenv("QTJAVA"));
+    if (env_qtjava[0] == '\"') {
+      // starting quote in qtjava.. almost always
+      env_qtjava++;
+
+      int len = strlen(env_qtjava);
+      if (env_qtjava[len-1] == '\"') {
+        env_qtjava[len-1] = 0;
+      } else {
+        // a starting quote but no ending quote..
+      }
+    }
+    int last = strlen(env_qtjava);
+    env_qtjava[last++] = ';';
+    env_qtjava[last] = 0;
+  } else {
+    env_qtjava[0] = 0;
+  }
+
+
+  // put quotes around contents of cp, 
+  // because %s might have spaces in it.
   sprintf(cp,	
+          "\""   // begin quote
           "%s"
           "%s"
           "%s"
@@ -61,14 +118,17 @@ WinMain (HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE hPrev, LPSTR lpCmd, int nShow)
           "%s\\lib\\pde.jar;"
           "%s\\lib\\kjc.jar;"
           "%s\\lib\\oro.jar;"
-	  "%s\\lib\\antlr.jar;"
+          "%s\\lib\\antlr.jar;"
           "%s\\lib\\comm.jar;"
-          "C:\\WINNT\\system32\\QTJava.zip;"
-          "C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\QTJava.zip;"
-          "\" ",
-          localJreInstalled ? "java\\lib\\rt.jar;" : "", 
-          envClasspath ? envClasspath : "",
-          envClasspath ? ";" : "",
+          //"C:\\WINNT\\system32\\QTJava.zip;"  // worthless
+          //"C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\QTJava.zip;"
+          "\"",   // end quote
+          //localJreInstalled ? "java\\lib\\rt.jar;" : "", 
+          local_jre_installed ? "java\\lib\\rt.jar;" : "", //rt_jar, 
+          env_qtjava,
+          env_classpath, 
+          //envClasspath ? envClasspath : "",
+          //envClasspath ? ";" : "",
           loaddir, loaddir, loaddir, loaddir, loaddir, loaddir, loaddir);
 
   if (!SetEnvironmentVariable("CLASSPATH", cp)) {
@@ -77,6 +137,8 @@ WinMain (HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE hPrev, LPSTR lpCmd, int nShow)
     return 0;
   }
 
+  //MessageBox(NULL, cp, "whaadddup", MB_OK);
+
   // add the name of the class to execute and a space before the next arg
   strcat(outgoing_cmdline, JAVA_MAIN_CLASS " ");
 
@@ -86,7 +148,8 @@ WinMain (HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE hPrev, LPSTR lpCmd, int nShow)
   char *executable = (char *)malloc(256 * sizeof(char));
   // loaddir is the name path to the current application
 
-  if (localJreInstalled) {
+  //if (localJreInstalled) {
+  if (local_jre_installed) {
     strcpy(executable, loaddir);
     // copy in the path for javaw, relative to launcher.exe
     strcat(executable, "\\java\\bin\\javaw.exe");
diff --git a/processing/build/windows/launcher/processing.exe b/processing/build/windows/launcher/processing.exe
index b9a2178dc..9889ac1e1 100755
Binary files a/processing/build/windows/launcher/processing.exe and b/processing/build/windows/launcher/processing.exe differ
diff --git a/processing/build/windows/run.sh b/processing/build/windows/run.sh
index 41cc4ad5a..dc921aca2 100644
--- a/processing/build/windows/run.sh
+++ b/processing/build/windows/run.sh
@@ -1,23 +1,32 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-if test -d /cygdrive/c/WINNT
-then
+#if test -d /cygdrive/c/WINNT
+#then
   # windows 2000 or nt
-  QT_JAVA_PATH=C:\\WINNT\\system32\\QTJava.zip
-else
+#  QT_JAVA_PATH=C:\\WINNT\\system32\\QTJava.zip
+#else
   # other versions of windows, including xp
-  QT_JAVA_PATH=C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\QTJava.zip
-fi
+#  QT_JAVA_PATH=C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\QTJava.zip
+#fi
 # another alternative
 #QT_JAVA_PATH=..\\build\\shared\\lib\\qtjava.zip
 
+# #$(*&@(#*$& quicktime for java
+QT_JAVA_PATH=`perl -e '$qt = $ENV{'QTJAVA'}; $qt =~ s/\"//g; print $qt'`;
+
 # rxtx testing
 #CLASSPATH=java\\lib\\rt.jar\;lib\;lib\\build\;lib\\pde.jar\;lib\\kjc.jar\;lib\\oro.jar\;lib\\RXTXcomm.jar\;${QT_JAVA_PATH}
 
-CLASSPATH=java\\lib\\rt.jar\;lib\;lib\\build\;lib\\pde.jar\;lib\\kjc.jar\;lib\\antlr.jar\;lib\\oro.jar\;lib\\comm.jar\;lib\\RXTXcomm.jar\;${QT_JAVA_PATH}
+CLASSPATH=\"java\\lib\\rt.jar\;lib\;lib\\build\;lib\\pde.jar\;lib\\kjc.jar\;lib\\antlr.jar\;lib\\oro.jar\;lib\\comm.jar\;lib\\RXTXcomm.jar\;${QT_JAVA_PATH}\"
+
+#echo $CLASSPATH
+
+# will this one work? or do the quotes have to be chopped?
+#CLASSPATH=java\\lib\\rt.jar\;lib\;lib\\build\;lib\\pde.jar\;lib\\kjc.jar\;lib\\antlr.jar\;lib\\oro.jar\;lib\\comm.jar\;lib\\RXTXcomm.jar\;${QTJAVA}
 
 # version for javac/1.1 testing
 #CLASSPATH=java\\lib\\rt.jar\;lib\;lib\\build\;lib\\pde.jar\;lib\\kjc.jar\;lib\\oro.jar\;java\\lib\\ext\\comm.jar\;${QT_JAVA_PATH}\;..\\..\\macos9\\JDKClasses.zip\;..\\..\\macos9\\JDKToolsClasses.zip
 
 #cd work && ./java/bin/java -cp ${CLASSPATH} PdeBase
-cd work && ./java/bin/java -cp ${CLASSPATH} PdeBase
+#cd work && ./java/bin/java -cp ${CLASSPATH} PdeBase
+cd work && ./java/bin/java PdeBase