diff --git a/lib/util/ktutil.inc b/lib/util/ktutil.inc
index d454476..85608e5 100644
--- a/lib/util/ktutil.inc
+++ b/lib/util/ktutil.inc
@@ -206,27 +206,56 @@ class KTUtil {
     	$aOutput = array();
     	$iRet = '';
 
-      if (OS_WINDOWS){
-        $wait = false;
-        if(isset($aOptions['exec_wait']) && ($aOptions['exec_wait'] == 'true')){
-            $wait = true;
-        }
-      
-  			$WshShell = new COM("WScript.Shell");
-        $res = $WshShell->Run($sCmd, 0, $wait);
-        
-        $iRet = 0;
-        $aOutput = array($res);
-  		}else{
-  			 exec($sCmd, $aOutput, $iRet);
-  		}
-
+    	exec($sCmd, $aOutput, $iRet);
     	$aRet['ret'] = $iRet;
     	$aRet['out'] = $aOutput;
     	return $aRet;
     }
     // }}}
 
+
+    // {{{ winexec
+    /**
+     * Execute a command on a windows platform.
+     */
+    function winexec($aCmd, $aOptions = null) {
+    	if (is_array($aCmd)) {
+    		$sCmd = KTUtil::safeShellString($aCmd);
+    	} else {
+    		$sCmd = $aCmd;
+    	}
+    	$sAppend = KTUtil::arrayGet($aOptions, 'append');
+    	if ($sAppend) {
+    		$sCmd .= " >> " . escapeshellarg($sAppend);
+    	}
+
+    	$sCmd = str_replace( '/','\\',$sCmd);
+
+    	// Set wait to true if the execute must wait for the script to complete before continuing
+    	$wait = true;
+        if(isset($aOptions['exec_wait']) && ($aOptions['exec_wait'] == 'false')){
+            $wait = false;
+        }
+
+    	// Iterate through the various execute functions till one works.
+  		$WshShell = new COM("WScript.Shell");
+        $res = $WshShell->Run($sCmd, 0, $wait);
+
+        if($res){
+            return $res;
+        }
+
+    	$sCmd = "start /b \"kt\" " . $sCmd;
+    	$fp = popen($sCmd, 'r');
+    	fclose($fp);
+
+    	if($wait){
+    	    sleep(1);
+    	}
+    	return 1;
+    }
+    // }}}
+
     // {{{ copyDirectory
     function copyDirectory($sSrc, $sDst, $bMove = false) {
         if (file_exists($sDst)) {
@@ -500,6 +529,12 @@ class KTUtil {
     		return $sCommand . ".exe";
     	}
 
+    	$result = KTUtil::checkForStackCommand($sConfigVar);
+    	if (!empty($result))
+    	{
+    		return $result;
+    	}
+
     	$sExecSearchPath = $oKTConfig->get("KnowledgeTree/execSearchPath");
     	$sExecSearchPath .= PATH_SEPARATOR . KT_DIR . "/../common/";
     	$sExecSearchPath .= PATH_SEPARATOR . KT_DIR . "/../bin/xpdf/";
@@ -521,6 +556,47 @@ class KTUtil {
     }
     // }}}
 
+    function checkForStackCommand($configCommand)
+    {
+    	$config = KTConfig::getSingleton();
+    	$stackPath = realpath(KT_DIR . '/..');
+
+    	switch ($configCommand)
+    	{
+    		case 'externalBinary/php':
+    			if (OS_WINDOWS)
+    			{
+    				$script = $stackPath . '/php/php.exe';
+    			}
+    			else
+    			{
+    				$script = $stackPath . '/php/bin/php';
+    			}
+    			break;
+    		case 'externalBinary/python':
+    			if (OS_WINDOWS)
+				{
+					$script = $stackPath . '/openoffice/openoffice/program/python.bat';
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					$script = $stackPath . '/openoffice/program/python';
+				}
+				break;
+    		case 'externalBinary/java':
+				$script = $stackPath . '/j2re/bin/java';
+    			break;
+    		default:
+    			return null;
+    	}
+    	if (is_file($script))
+		{
+			return $script;
+		}
+    	return false;
+    }
+
+
     // now accepts strings OR arrays!
     // {{{ addQueryString
     function addQueryString($url, $qs) {
diff --git a/plugins/ktstandard/contents/BaseIndexer.php b/plugins/ktstandard/contents/BaseIndexer.php
index 28640f3..764d387 100644
--- a/plugins/ktstandard/contents/BaseIndexer.php
+++ b/plugins/ktstandard/contents/BaseIndexer.php
@@ -147,7 +147,12 @@ class KTBaseIndexerTrigger {
         } else {
             $cmdline[] = $sTempFilename;
         }
-        $aRet = KTUtil::pexec($cmdline, $aOptions);
+
+        if(OS_WINDOWS){
+            $aRet = KTUtil::winexec($cmdline, $aOptions);
+        }else{
+            $aRet = KTUtil::pexec($cmdline, $aOptions);
+        }
         $this->aCommandOutput = $aRet['out'];
         $contents = file_get_contents($sTempFilename);
 
diff --git a/plugins/ktstandard/contents/WordIndexer.php b/plugins/ktstandard/contents/WordIndexer.php
index 7c1a8d7..7d6343b 100644
--- a/plugins/ktstandard/contents/WordIndexer.php
+++ b/plugins/ktstandard/contents/WordIndexer.php
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ class KTWordIndexerTrigger extends KTBaseIndexerTrigger {
             $sDir = dirname(dirname($sCommand));
 	          putenv('HOME=' . $sDir);
 
+	        /*
             $cmdline = array($sCommand);
             $cmdline = kt_array_merge($cmdline, $this->args);
             $cmdline[] = $sFilename;
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ class KTWordIndexerTrigger extends KTBaseIndexerTrigger {
             $this->aCommandOutput = 1;
             $contents = file_get_contents($sTempFilename);
             return $contents;
+            */
         }
         return parent::extract_contents($sFilename, $sTempFilename);
     }