diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 63c452607..f5da236e1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -166,10 +166,6 @@ if(WIN32)
   # https://github.com/nlohmann/json/issues/3868#issuecomment-1563726354
   add_definitions(-DJSON_HAS_THREE_WAY_COMPARISON=OFF)
 
-  # build quickpromise
-  add_subdirectory("extern/quickpromise")
-  add_subdirectory("extern/quickfuture")
-
   set(CMAKE_WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS ON)
 
   # When moving to Qt6 or greater, we might be able to use qt_generate_deploy_app_script
@@ -229,6 +225,15 @@ endif()
 add_subdirectory(src)
 
 if(INSTALL_XSTUDIO)
+
+
+    # add extern libs that are build-time dependencies of xstudio
+if (UNIX)
+    add_subdirectory("extern/reproc")
+endif()
+    add_subdirectory("extern/quickfuture")
+    add_subdirectory("extern/quickpromise")
+
   add_subdirectory(share/preference)
   add_subdirectory(share/snippets)
   add_subdirectory(share/fonts)
@@ -272,11 +277,6 @@ if(INSTALL_XSTUDIO)
 
 endif ()
 
-# add extern libs that are build-time dependencies of xstudio
-add_subdirectory("extern/reproc")
-add_subdirectory("extern/quickfuture")
-add_subdirectory("extern/quickpromise")
-
 if(USE_VCPKG)
   # To provide reliable ordering, we need to make this install script happen in a subdirectory.
   # Otherwise, Qt deploy will happen before we have the rest of the application deployed.
diff --git a/CMakePresets.json b/CMakePresets.json
index 3856a0150..d3020c537 100644
--- a/CMakePresets.json
+++ b/CMakePresets.json
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
       "cacheVariables": {
         "CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE": "${sourceDir}/build/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake",
         "Qt5_DIR": "C:/Qt/5.15.2/msvc2019_64/lib/cmake/Qt5/",
-        "CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX": "D:/xstudio_install",
+        "CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX": "C:/xstudio_install3",
         "X_VCPKG_APPLOCAL_DEPS_INSTALL": "ON",
         "BUILD_DOCS": "OFF"
       }
diff --git a/cmake/macros.cmake b/cmake/macros.cmake
index e03e3440f..53a27b288 100644
--- a/cmake/macros.cmake
+++ b/cmake/macros.cmake
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ macro(default_compile_options name)
 		# PRIVATE -fvisibility=hidden
 		PRIVATE $<$<AND:$<CONFIG:RelWithDebInfo>,$<PLATFORM_ID:Linux>>:-fno-omit-frame-pointer>
 		PRIVATE $<$<AND:$<CONFIG:RelWithDebInfo>,$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>>:/Oy>
+		PRIVATE $<$<AND:$<CONFIG:RelWithDebInfo>,$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>>:/showIncludes>
 		# PRIVATE $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:-Wno-unused-variable>
 		# PRIVATE $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:-Wno-unused-but-set-variable>
 		# PRIVATE $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:-Wno-unused-parameter>
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ macro(default_compile_options name)
 		PUBLIC BINARY_DIR=\"${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin\"
 		PRIVATE TEST_RESOURCE=\"${TEST_RESOURCE}\"
 		PRIVATE ROOT_DIR=\"${ROOT_DIR}\"
+		$<$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>:WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN>
 		PRIVATE $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:XSTUDIO_DEBUG=1>
 	)
 endmacro()
diff --git a/extern/include/cpp-httplib/httplib.h b/extern/include/cpp-httplib/httplib.h
index 1dcb41bfd..0f86fbf61 100644
--- a/extern/include/cpp-httplib/httplib.h
+++ b/extern/include/cpp-httplib/httplib.h
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ using ssize_t = long;
 #endif // NOMINMAX
 
 #include <io.h>
-#include <winsock2.h>
+//#include <winsock2.h>
 #include <ws2tcpip.h>
 
 #ifndef WSA_FLAG_NO_HANDLE_INHERIT
diff --git a/extern/include/stduuid/uuid.h b/extern/include/stduuid/uuid.h
index 34f59e5f8..8e06b97e9 100644
--- a/extern/include/stduuid/uuid.h
+++ b/extern/include/stduuid/uuid.h
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <objbase.h>
 
-#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN        
+#ifndef NOMINMAX
 #define NOMINMAX
+#endif
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <intrin.h>       
 #include <iphlpapi.h> 
diff --git a/extern/quickfuture/CMakeLists.txt b/extern/quickfuture/CMakeLists.txt
index 4b50f097e..6bc949b57 100644
--- a/extern/quickfuture/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/extern/quickfuture/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,15 +19,16 @@ set(QML_FILES
     src/quickfuture.qmltypes
 )
 
-set_target_properties(quickfuture
-    PROPERTIES
-    LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/plugin/qml/QuickFuture"
-)
-
 if(WIN32)
     install(FILES ${QML_FILES} DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/plugin/qml/QuickFuture)
-    install(TARGETS quickfuture LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/plugin/qml/QuickFuture)
+    install(TARGETS quickfuture RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/plugin/qml)
 else()
+
+    set_target_properties(quickfuture
+        PROPERTIES
+        LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/plugin/qml/QuickFuture"
+    )
+
     install(FILES ${QML_FILES} DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/xstudio/plugin/qml/QuickFuture)
     install(TARGETS quickfuture LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/xstudio/plugin/qml/QuickFuture)
 
diff --git a/extern/stduuid/include/uuid.h b/extern/stduuid/include/uuid.h
index 34f59e5f8..fb5875762 100644
--- a/extern/stduuid/include/uuid.h
+++ b/extern/stduuid/include/uuid.h
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <objbase.h>
 
-#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN        
+#ifndef NOMINMAX        
 #define NOMINMAX
+#endif
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <intrin.h>       
 #include <iphlpapi.h> 
diff --git a/include/xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp b/include/xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp
index 3c90c3896..cfdcb426f 100644
--- a/include/xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp
+++ b/include/xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 #include "xstudio/utility/string_helpers.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/caf_error.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/caf_utility/caf_setup.hpp"
-
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <fmt/format.h>
diff --git a/include/xstudio/utility/string_helpers.hpp b/include/xstudio/utility/string_helpers.hpp
index 45b93cf39..d3d5f5248 100644
--- a/include/xstudio/utility/string_helpers.hpp
+++ b/include/xstudio/utility/string_helpers.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <winsock2.h>
 #endif
+
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cctype>
diff --git a/src/audio/src/windows_audio_output_device.cpp b/src/audio/src/windows_audio_output_device.cpp
index 0205eec39..f0e2890b2 100644
--- a/src/audio/src/windows_audio_output_device.cpp
+++ b/src/audio/src/windows_audio_output_device.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <Audioclient.h>
 #include <atlbase.h>
diff --git a/src/python_module/src/py_messages.cpp b/src/python_module/src/py_messages.cpp
index 9145d5b6c..0bce6319f 100644
--- a/src/python_module/src/py_messages.cpp
+++ b/src/python_module/src/py_messages.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 // #include <caf/all.hpp>
 // #include <caf/config.hpp>
 // #include <caf/io/all.hpp>
+#include "xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp"
 
 #include "py_opaque.hpp"
 
@@ -15,7 +16,6 @@
 #include "xstudio/ui/mouse.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/caf_helpers.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/container.hpp"
-#include "xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/media_reference.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/remote_session_file.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/serialise_headers.hpp"
diff --git a/src/timeline/src/item.cpp b/src/timeline/src/item.cpp
index 9de919bd5..3b8d98747 100644
--- a/src/timeline/src/item.cpp
+++ b/src/timeline/src/item.cpp
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
-#include "xstudio/timeline/item.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp"
+#include "xstudio/timeline/item.hpp"
 
 using namespace xstudio;
 using namespace xstudio::timeline;
diff --git a/src/utility/src/frame_list.cpp b/src/utility/src/frame_list.cpp
index f032366b0..cb9643027 100644
--- a/src/utility/src/frame_list.cpp
+++ b/src/utility/src/frame_list.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#include "xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp"
+
 #include <filesystem>
 
 #include <limits>
@@ -7,7 +9,6 @@
 #include <fmt/format.h>
 
 #include "xstudio/utility/frame_list.hpp"
-#include "xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/logging.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/string_helpers.hpp"
 
diff --git a/src/utility/src/helpers.cpp b/src/utility/src/helpers.cpp
index 3c370a0d2..c28466394 100644
--- a/src/utility/src/helpers.cpp
+++ b/src/utility/src/helpers.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#include "xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp"
+
 #ifdef __linux__
 #define __USE_POSIX
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -18,7 +20,6 @@
 //#include <reproc++/reproc.hpp>
 
 #include "xstudio/utility/frame_list.hpp"
-#include "xstudio/utility/helpers.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/sequence.hpp"
 #include "xstudio/utility/string_helpers.hpp"