diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/getdown/data/Application.java b/src/java/com/threerings/getdown/data/Application.java
index c4beb17..8687829 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/getdown/data/Application.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/getdown/data/Application.java
@@ -311,6 +311,10 @@ public class Application
             }
         }
 
+        // look for a debug.txt file which causes us to run in java.exe on
+        // Windows so that we can obtain a thread dump of the running JVM
+        _windebug = getLocalPath("debug.txt").exists();
+
         // parse and return our application config
         UpdateInterface ui = new UpdateInterface();
         _name = ui.name = (String)cdata.get("ui.name");
@@ -399,7 +403,7 @@ public class Application
         ArrayList args = new ArrayList();
 
         // reconstruct the path to the JVM
-        args.add(LaunchUtil.getJVMPath());
+        args.add(LaunchUtil.getJVMPath(_windebug));
 
         // add the classpath arguments
         args.add("-classpath");
@@ -417,7 +421,8 @@ public class Application
         String proxyHost;
         if ((proxyHost = System.getProperty("http.proxyHost")) != null) {
             args.add("-Dhttp.proxyHost=" + proxyHost);
-            args.add("-Dhttp.proxyPort=" + System.getProperty("http.proxyPort"));
+            args.add("-Dhttp.proxyPort=" +
+                     System.getProperty("http.proxyPort"));
         }
 
         // pass along any pass-through arguments
@@ -761,6 +766,7 @@ public class Application
     protected URL _vappbase;
     protected String _class;
     protected String _name;
+    protected boolean _windebug;
 
     protected ArrayList _codes = new ArrayList();
     protected ArrayList _resources = new ArrayList();
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/getdown/util/LaunchUtil.java b/src/java/com/threerings/getdown/util/LaunchUtil.java
index 0efde85..cbb21b0 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/getdown/util/LaunchUtil.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/getdown/util/LaunchUtil.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: LaunchUtil.java,v 1.1 2004/08/03 03:29:58 mdb Exp $
+// $Id$
 
 package com.threerings.getdown.util;
 
@@ -17,21 +17,39 @@ public class LaunchUtil
      * Reconstructs the path to the JVM used to launch this process.
      */
     public static String getJVMPath ()
+    {
+        return getJVMPath(false);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reconstructs the path to the JVM used to launch this process.
+     *
+     * @param windebug if true we will use java.exe instead of javaw.exe on
+     * Windows.
+     */
+    public static String getJVMPath (boolean windebug)
     {
         String apbase = System.getProperty("java.home") +
             File.separator + "bin" + File.separator;
         String apath = apbase + "java";
-        if (!new File(apath).exists()) {
+        if (new File(apath).exists()) {
+            return apath;
+        }
+
+        if (!windebug) {
             apath = apbase + "javaw.exe";
-            if (!new File(apath).exists()) {
-                apath = apbase + "java.exe";
-                if (!new File(apath).exists()) {
-                    Log.warning("Unable to find java! [jhome=" + apbase + "].");
-                    apath = apbase + "java";
-                }
+            if (new File(apath).exists()) {
+                return apath;
             }
         }
-        return apath;
+
+        apath = apbase + "java.exe";
+        if (new File(apath).exists()) {
+            return apath;
+        }
+
+        Log.warning("Unable to find java! [jhome=" + apbase + "].");
+        return apbase + "java";
     }
 
     /**