diff --git a/lib/util/ktutil.inc b/lib/util/ktutil.inc
index 85608e5..8e8b4dc 100644
--- a/lib/util/ktutil.inc
+++ b/lib/util/ktutil.inc
@@ -206,14 +206,27 @@ class KTUtil {
     	$aOutput = array();
     	$iRet = '';
 
-    	exec($sCmd, $aOutput, $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);
+  		}
+
     	$aRet['ret'] = $iRet;
     	$aRet['out'] = $aOutput;
     	return $aRet;
     }
     // }}}
-
-
+    
     // {{{ winexec
     /**
      * Execute a command on a windows platform.
@@ -529,12 +542,6 @@ 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/";
@@ -556,47 +563,6 @@ 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) {