diff --git a/src/osd/windows/eivc.h b/src/osd/windows/eivc.h
index 1813245ac61..6dc54d93b31 100644
--- a/src/osd/windows/eivc.h
+++ b/src/osd/windows/eivc.h
@@ -47,12 +47,12 @@
 #if (_MSC_VER >= 1400)
 #include <intrin.h>
 #else
-long __cdecl _InterlockedIncrement(long volatile *);
-long __cdecl _InterlockedDecrement(long volatile *);
-long _InterlockedExchange(long volatile *, long);
-long _InterlockedCompareExchange (long volatile *, long, long);
-long _InterlockedExchangeAdd(long volatile *, long);
-unsigned char _BitScanReverse(unsigned long *Index, unsigned long Mask);
+extern "C" long __cdecl _InterlockedIncrement(long volatile *);
+extern "C" long __cdecl _InterlockedDecrement(long volatile *);
+extern "C" long _InterlockedExchange(long volatile *, long);
+extern "C" long _InterlockedCompareExchange (long volatile *, long, long);
+extern "C" long _InterlockedExchangeAdd(long volatile *, long);
+extern "C" unsigned char _BitScanReverse(unsigned long *Index, unsigned long Mask);
 #endif
 
 #pragma intrinsic(_InterlockedIncrement)
diff --git a/src/osd/windows/vconv.c b/src/osd/windows/vconv.c
index 098eae56137..05afed42db2 100644
--- a/src/osd/windows/vconv.c
+++ b/src/osd/windows/vconv.c
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ static void build_command_line(int argc, char *argv[])
 	else if (!strcmp(argv[1], "ar"))
 	{
 		transtable = ar_translate;
-		executable = "lib.exe";
+		executable = "link.exe";
 		dst += sprintf(dst, "link /lib /nologo ");
 		outstring = "/out:";
 		output_is_first = 1;
diff --git a/src/osd/windows/windows.mak b/src/osd/windows/windows.mak
index bb6e3212b94..ad8584b9a2e 100644
--- a/src/osd/windows/windows.mak
+++ b/src/osd/windows/windows.mak
@@ -107,8 +107,7 @@ endif
 
 ifdef MSVC_BUILD
 
-VCONV = $(WINOBJ)/vconv$(EXE)
-VCONVPREFIX = $(subst /,\,$(VCONV))
+OSPREBUILD = $(VCONV_TARGET)
 
 # append a 'v' prefix if nothing specified
 ifndef PREFIX
@@ -116,10 +115,10 @@ PREFIX = v
 endif
 
 # replace the various compilers with vconv.exe prefixes
-CC = @$(VCONVPREFIX) gcc -I.
-LD = @$(VCONVPREFIX) ld /profile
-AR = @$(VCONVPREFIX) ar
-RC = @$(VCONVPREFIX) windres
+CC = @$(VCONV) gcc -I.
+LD = @$(VCONV) ld /profile
+AR = @$(VCONV) ar
+RC = @$(VCONV) windres
 
 # make sure we use the multithreaded runtime
 ifdef DEBUG
@@ -156,27 +155,15 @@ CPPONLYFLAGS += /wd4800
 # disable better packing warning
 CPPONLYFLAGS += /wd4371
 
+# disable macro redefinition warning
+CCOMFLAGS += /wd4005
+
 # explicitly set the entry point for UNICODE builds
 LDFLAGS += /ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup
 
 # add some VC++-specific defines
 DEFS += -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE -D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE -DXML_STATIC -Dsnprintf=_snprintf
 
-# make msvcprep into a pre-build step
-OSPREBUILD = $(VCONV)
-
-ifneq ($(CROSS_BUILD),1)
-# add VCONV to the build tools
-BUILD += $(VCONV)
-
-$(VCONV): $(WINOBJ)/vconv.o
-	@echo Linking $@...
-	@link.exe /nologo $^ version.lib /out:$@
-
-$(WINOBJ)/vconv.o: $(WINSRC)/vconv.c
-	@echo Compiling $<...
-	@cl.exe /nologo /O1 -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE -c $< /Fo$@
-
 OSDCLEAN = msvcclean
 
 msvcclean:
@@ -186,8 +173,29 @@ msvcclean:
 	$(RM) *.exp
 
 endif
+
+
+#-------------------------------------------------
+# build VCONV
+#-------------------------------------------------
+
+VCONV_TARGET = $(BUILDOUT)/vconv$(BUILD_EXE)
+VCONV = $(subst /,\,$(VCONV_TARGET))
+
+ifneq ($(CROSS_BUILD),1)
+BUILD += \
+	$(VCONV_TARGET)
 endif
 
+$(VCONV_TARGET): $(WINOBJ)/vconv.o
+	@echo Linking $@...
+	@gcc.exe -static-libgcc $^ $(LIBS) -lversion -o $@
+
+$(WINOBJ)/vconv.o: $(WINSRC)/vconv.c
+	@echo Compiling $<...
+	@gcc.exe -O3 -c $< -o $@
+
+
 
 #-------------------------------------------------
 # due to quirks of using /bin/sh, we need to