patch, 17 partsFix MSVC support, at long last

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 9fa72ad450..b08a1416d8 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 *.pl eof=lf diff=perl
 *.pm eol=lf diff=perl
 *.py eol=lf diff=python
+*.bat eol=crlf
 /Documentation/**/*.txt eol=lf
 /command-list.txt eol=lf
 /GIT-VERSION-GEN eol=lf

compat/mingw.c, compat/mingw.h, config.mak.uname

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 9b6d2400e1..0d8713e515 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2301,18 +2301,13 @@ static void setup_windows_environment(void)
 		setenv("TERM", "cygwin", 1);
 }
 
+#if !defined(_MSC_VER)
 /*
  * Disable MSVCRT command line wildcard expansion (__getmainargs called from
  * mingw startup code, see init.c in mingw runtime).
  */
 int _CRT_glob = 0;
-
-typedef struct {
-	int newmode;
-} _startupinfo;
-
-extern int __wgetmainargs(int *argc, wchar_t ***argv, wchar_t ***env, int glob,
-		_startupinfo *si);
+#endif
 
 static NORETURN void die_startup(void)
 {
@@ -2390,22 +2385,25 @@ static void maybe_redirect_std_handles(void)
 				  GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING);
 }
 
-void mingw_startup(void)
+/*
+ * We implement wmain() and compile with -municode, which would
+ * normally ignore main(), but we call the latter from the former
+ * so that we can handle non-ASCII command-line parameters
+ * appropriately.
+ *
+ * To be more compatible with the core git code, we convert
+ * argv into UTF8 and pass them directly to main().
+ */
+int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 {
-	int i, maxlen, argc;
-	char *buffer;
-	wchar_t **wenv, **wargv;
-	_startupinfo si;
+	int i, maxlen, exit_status;
+	char *buffer, **save;
+	const char **argv;
 
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
 	maybe_redirect_std_handles();
 
-	/* get wide char arguments and environment */
-	si.newmode = 0;
-	if (__wgetmainargs(&argc, &wargv, &wenv, _CRT_glob, &si) < 0)
-		die_startup();
-
 	/* determine size of argv and environ conversion buffer */
 	maxlen = wcslen(wargv[0]);
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
@@ -2415,9 +2413,16 @@ void mingw_startup(void)
 	maxlen = 3 * maxlen + 1;
 	buffer = malloc_startup(maxlen);
 
-	/* convert command line arguments and environment to UTF-8 */
+	/*
+	 * Create a UTF-8 version of w_argv. Also create a "save" copy
+	 * to remember all the string pointers because parse_options()
+	 * will remove claimed items from the argv that we pass down.
+	 */
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(argv, argc + 1);
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(save, argc + 1);
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
-		__argv[i] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, wargv[i], maxlen);
+		argv[i] = save[i] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, wargv[i], maxlen);
+	argv[i] = save[i] = NULL;
 	free(buffer);
 
 	/* fix Windows specific environment settings */
@@ -2436,6 +2441,16 @@ void mingw_startup(void)
 
 	/* initialize Unicode console */
 	winansi_init();
+
+	/* invoke the real main() using our utf8 version of argv. */
+	exit_status = main(argc, argv);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
+		free(save[i]);
+	free(save);
+	free(argv);
+
+	return exit_status;
 }
 
 int uname(struct utsname *buf)
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 593bdbffe6..210f1b01a8 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -562,18 +562,18 @@ int xwcstoutf(char *utf, const wchar_t *wcs, size_t utflen);
 extern CRITICAL_SECTION pinfo_cs;
 
 /*
- * A replacement of main() that adds win32 specific initialization.
+ * Git, like most portable C applications, implements a main() function. On
+ * Windows, this main() function would receive parameters encoded in the
+ * current locale, but Git for Windows would prefer UTF-8 encoded  parameters.
+ *
+ * To make that happen, we still declare main() here, and then declare and
+ * implement wmain() (which is the Unicode variant of main()) and compile with
+ * -municode. This wmain() function reencodes the parameters from UTF-16 to
+ * UTF-8 format, sets up a couple of other things as required on Windows, and
+ * then hands off to the main() function.
  */
-
-void mingw_startup(void);
-#define main(c,v) dummy_decl_mingw_main(void); \
-static int mingw_main(c,v); \
-int main(int argc, const char **argv) \
-{ \
-	mingw_startup(); \
-	return mingw_main(__argc, (void *)__argv); \
-} \
-static int mingw_main(c,v)
+int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **w_argv);
+int main(int argc, const char **argv);
 
 /*
  * Used by Pthread API implementation for Windows
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index b71688eeb7..bf5d160ef4 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 		compat/win32/trace2_win32_process_info.o \
 		compat/win32/dirent.o
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
-	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
 	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj
 	PTHREAD_LIBS =
 	lib =
@@ -548,6 +548,7 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	ETAGS_TARGET = ETAGS
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	DEFAULT_HELP_FORMAT = html
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -municode
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DNOGDI -Icompat -Icompat/win32
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
 	COMPAT_OBJS += compat/mingw.o compat/winansi.o \

diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index b13bfaf71e..706ffcf188 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 #include "object-store.h"
 #include "replace-object.h"
 
-#ifndef DEBUG
-#define DEBUG 0
+#ifndef DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
+#define DEBUG_CACHE_TREE 0
 #endif
 
 struct cache_tree *cache_tree(void)
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ static int do_invalidate_path(struct cache_tree *it, const char *path)
 	int namelen;
 	struct cache_tree_sub *down;
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree invalidate <%s>\n", path);
 #endif
 
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 		strbuf_addf(&buffer, "%o %.*s%c", mode, entlen, path + baselen, '\0');
 		strbuf_add(&buffer, oid->hash, the_hash_algo->rawsz);
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree update-one %o %.*s\n",
 			mode, entlen, path + baselen);
 #endif
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 
 	strbuf_release(&buffer);
 	it->entry_count = to_invalidate ? -1 : i - *skip_count;
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree update-one (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 		it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr,
 		oid_to_hex(&it->oid));
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ static void write_one(struct strbuf *buffer, struct cache_tree *it,
 	strbuf_add(buffer, path, pathlen);
 	strbuf_addf(buffer, "%c%d %d\n", 0, it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr);
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	if (0 <= it->entry_count)
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree <%.*s> (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 			pathlen, path, it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr,
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static struct cache_tree *read_one(const char **buffer, unsigned long *size_p)
 		size -= rawsz;
 	}
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	if (0 <= it->entry_count)
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree <%s> (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 			*buffer, it->entry_count, subtree_nr,

diff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh
index 77a224aafb..c7ab18f40f 100755
--- a/t/t0001-init.sh
+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh
@@ -474,7 +474,8 @@ test_expect_success MINGW 'redirect std handles' '
 		GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR="2>&1" \
 		git rev-parse --git-dir --verify refs/invalid &&
 	printf ".git\nfatal: Needed a single revision\n" >expect &&
-	test_cmp expect output.txt
+	sort <output.txt >output.sorted &&
+	test_cmp expect output.sorted
 '
 
 test_done

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 0d8713e515..d14d33308d 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1553,7 +1553,10 @@ static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 	if (prog) {
 		int exec_id;
 		int argc = 0;
-		const char **argv2;
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+		const
+#endif
+		char **argv2;
 		while (argv[argc]) argc++;
 		ALLOC_ARRAY(argv2, argc + 1);
 		argv2[0] = (char *)cmd;	/* full path to the script file */

diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 210f1b01a8..a03e40e6e2 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -352,11 +352,13 @@ static inline int getrlimit(int resource, struct rlimit *rlp)
 #ifndef __MINGW64_VERSION_MAJOR
 #define off_t off64_t
 #define lseek _lseeki64
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
 struct timespec {
 	time_t tv_sec;
 	long tv_nsec;
 };
 #endif
+#endif
 
 struct mingw_stat {
     _dev_t st_dev;

diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index bf5d160ef4..3310f6284c 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -414,6 +414,8 @@ else
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi -MDd
 endif
 	X = .exe
+
+compat/msvc.o: compat/msvc.c compat/mingw.c GIT-CFLAGS
 endif
 ifeq ($(uname_S),Interix)
 	NO_INITGROUPS = YesPlease

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index 29a8ce8204..04b4750b87 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 #undef ERROR
 
+typedef int sigset_t;
+
 #include "compat/mingw.h"
 
 #endif

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index 04b4750b87..d336d80670 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #undef ERROR
 
 typedef int sigset_t;
+/* open for reading, writing, or both (not in fcntl.h) */
+#define O_ACCMODE     (_O_RDONLY | _O_WRONLY | _O_RDWR)
 
 #include "compat/mingw.h"
 

diff --git a/compat/obstack.h b/compat/obstack.h
index ced94d0118..ae36ed6a66 100644
--- a/compat/obstack.h
+++ b/compat/obstack.h
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ __extension__								\
 ( (h)->temp.tempint = (char *) (obj) - (char *) (h)->chunk,		\
   ((((h)->temp.tempint > 0						\
     && (h)->temp.tempint < (h)->chunk_limit - (char *) (h)->chunk))	\
-   ? (int) ((h)->next_free = (h)->object_base				\
+   ? (ptrdiff_t) ((h)->next_free = (h)->object_base				\
 	    = (h)->temp.tempint + (char *) (h)->chunk)			\
    : (((obstack_free) ((h), (h)->temp.tempint + (char *) (h)->chunk), 0), 0)))
 

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 667285887a..8b56aa5773 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2119,8 +2119,34 @@ int mingw_raise(int sig)
 			sigint_fn(SIGINT);
 		return 0;
 
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+		/*
+		 * <signal.h> in the CRT defines 8 signals as being
+		 * supported on the platform.  Anything else causes
+		 * an "Invalid signal or error" (which in DEBUG builds
+		 * causes the Abort/Retry/Ignore dialog).  We by-pass
+		 * the CRT for things we already know will fail.
+		 */
+		/*case SIGINT:*/
+	case SIGILL:
+	case SIGFPE:
+	case SIGSEGV:
+	case SIGTERM:
+	case SIGBREAK:
+	case SIGABRT:
+	case SIGABRT_COMPAT:
+		return raise(sig);
+	default:
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return -1;
+
+#else
+
 	default:
 		return raise(sig);
+
+#endif
+
 	}
 }
 

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 8b56aa5773..cdb99b940e 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2438,6 +2438,10 @@ int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
 #ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef _DEBUG
+	_CrtSetReportMode(_CRT_ASSERT, _CRTDBG_MODE_DEBUG);
+#endif
+
 #ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
 	_CrtSetDbgFlag(_CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF);
 #endif

Makefile, compat/mingw.c, compat/vcbuild/.gitignore, compat/vcbuild/README, compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat, compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl, compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat, compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat, config.mak.uname, git-compat-util.h

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8a7e235352..7777af7d0e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1240,7 +1240,7 @@ endif
 
 ifdef SANE_TOOL_PATH
 SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(SANE_TOOL_PATH))
-BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix $(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)|'
+BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix "$(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)"|'
 PATH := $(SANE_TOOL_PATH):${PATH}
 else
 BROKEN_PATH_FIX = '/^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$/d'
@@ -2873,6 +2873,33 @@ install: all
 	$(INSTALL) $(ALL_PROGRAMS) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 $(SCRIPT_LIB) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) $(install_bindir_programs) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+ifdef MSVC
+	# We DO NOT install the individual foo.o.pdb files because they
+	# have already been rolled up into the exe's pdb file.
+	# We DO NOT have pdb files for the builtin commands (like git-status.exe)
+	# because it is just a copy/hardlink of git.exe, rather than a unique binary.
+	$(INSTALL) git.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-shell.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-upload-pack.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-credential-store.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-daemon.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-fast-import.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-backend.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-fetch.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-push.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-imap-send.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-remote-http.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-remote-testsvn.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-sh-i18n--envsubst.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-show-index.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+ifndef DEBUG
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_rel_bin)/*.dll '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_rel_bin)/*.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+else
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_dbg_bin)/*.dll '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_dbg_bin)/*.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+endif
+endif
 	$(MAKE) -C templates DESTDIR='$(DESTDIR_SQ)' install
 	$(INSTALL) -d -m 755 '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(mergetools_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 mergetools/* '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(mergetools_instdir_SQ)'
@@ -3085,6 +3112,19 @@ endif
 	$(RM) GIT-VERSION-FILE GIT-CFLAGS GIT-LDFLAGS GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS
 	$(RM) GIT-USER-AGENT GIT-PREFIX
 	$(RM) GIT-SCRIPT-DEFINES GIT-PERL-DEFINES GIT-PERL-HEADER GIT-PYTHON-VARS
+ifdef MSVC
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.o,%.o.pdb,$(OBJECTS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+endif
 
 .PHONY: all install profile-clean cocciclean clean strip
 .PHONY: shell_compatibility_test please_set_SHELL_PATH_to_a_more_modern_shell
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index d14d33308d..667285887a 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2388,6 +2388,12 @@ static void maybe_redirect_std_handles(void)
 				  GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING);
 }
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef _DEBUG
+#include <crtdbg.h>
+#endif
+#endif
+
 /*
  * We implement wmain() and compile with -municode, which would
  * normally ignore main(), but we call the latter from the former
@@ -2405,6 +2411,12 @@ int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
+	_CrtSetDbgFlag(_CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF);
+#endif
+#endif
+
 	maybe_redirect_std_handles();
 
 	/* determine size of argv and environ conversion buffer */
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore b/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8f8b794ef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+/vcpkg/
+/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+/VCPKG-DEFS
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/README b/compat/vcbuild/README
index 60fd873fe8..81da36a93b 100644
--- a/compat/vcbuild/README
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/README
@@ -1,3 +1,54 @@
+The Steps to Build Git with VS2015 or VS2017 from the command line.
+
+1. Install the "vcpkg" open source package manager and build essential
+   third-party libraries.  The steps for this have been captured in a
+   set of convenience scripts.  These can be run from a stock Command
+   Prompt or from an SDK bash window:
+
+   $ cd <repo_root>
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
+
+   The vcpkg tools and all of the third-party sources will be installed
+   in this folder:
+      <repo_root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/
+
+   A file will be created with a set of Makefile macros pointing to a
+   unified "include", "lib", and "bin" directory (release and debug) for
+   all of the required packages.  This file will be included by the main
+   Makefile:
+      <repo_root>/compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+
+2. OPTIONALLY copy the third-party *.dll and *.pdb files into the repo
+   root to make it easier to run and debug git.exe without having to
+   manipulate your PATH.  This is especially true for debug sessions in
+   Visual Studio.
+
+   Use ONE of the following forms which should match how you want to
+   compile git.exe.
+
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_packages.bat debug
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_packages.bat release
+
+3. Build git using MSVC from an SDK bash window using one of the
+   following commands:
+
+   $ make MSVC=1
+   $ make MSVC=1 DEBUG=1
+
+================================================================
+
+Alternatively, run `make MSVC=1 vcxproj` and then load the generated
+git.sln in Visual Studio. The initial build will install the vcpkg
+system and build the dependencies automatically. This will take a while.
+
+Note that this will automatically add and commit the generated
+.sln and .vcxproj files to the repo.  You may want to drop this
+commit before submitting a Pull Request....
+
+Or maybe we should put the .sln/.vcxproj files in the .gitignore file
+and not do this.  I'm not sure.
+
+================================================================
 The Steps of Build Git with VS2008
 
 1. You need the build environment, which contains the Git dependencies
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat b/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1232f200f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM You can use either GCC (the default) or MSVC to build git
+REM using the GIT-SDK command line tools.
+REM        $ make
+REM        $ make MSVC=1
+REM
+REM GIT-SDK BASH windows inherit environment variables with all of
+REM the bin/lib/include paths for GCC.  It DOES NOT inherit values
+REM for the corresponding MSVC tools.
+REM
+REM During normal (non-git) Windows development, you launch one
+REM of the provided "developer command prompts" to set environment
+REM variables for the MSVC tools.
+REM
+REM Therefore, to allow MSVC command line builds of git from BASH
+REM and MAKE, we must blend these two different worlds.  This script
+REM attempts to do that.
+REM ================================================================
+REM This BAT file starts in a plain (non-developer) command prompt,
+REM searches for the "best" commmand prompt setup script, installs
+REM it into the current CMD process, and exports the various MSVC
+REM environment variables for use by MAKE.
+REM
+REM The output of this script should be written to a make "include
+REM file" and referenced by the top-level Makefile.
+REM
+REM See "config.mak.uname" (look for compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN).
+REM ================================================================
+REM The provided command prompts are custom to each VS release and
+REM filled with lots of internal knowledge (such as Registry settings);
+REM even their names vary by release, so it is not appropriate for us
+REM to look inside them.  Rather, just run them in a subordinate
+REM process and extract the settings we need.
+REM ================================================================
+REM
+REM Current (VS2017 and beyond)
+REM -------------------
+REM Visual Studio 2017 introduced a new installation layout and
+REM support for side-by-side installation of multiple versions of
+REM VS2017.  Furthermore, these can all coexist with installations
+REM of previous versions of VS (which have a completely different
+REM layout on disk).
+REM
+REM VS2017 Update 2 introduced a "vswhere.exe" command:
+REM https://github.com/Microsoft/vswhere
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/heaths/2017/02/25/vswhere-available/
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2017/03/06/finding-the-visual-c-compiler-tools-in-visual-studio-2017/
+REM
+REM VS2015
+REM ------
+REM Visual Studio 2015 uses the traditional VcVarsAll.
+REM
+REM Earlier Versions
+REM ----------------
+REM TODO
+REM
+REM ================================================================
+REM Note: Throughout this script we use "dir <path> && <cmd>" rather
+REM than "if exist <path>" because of script problems with pathnames
+REM containing spaces.
+REM ================================================================
+
+REM Sanitize PATH to prevent git-sdk paths from confusing "wmic.exe"
+REM (called internally in some of the system BAT files).
+SET PATH=%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:current
+   SET vs_where=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe
+   dir "%vs_where%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_where
+   GOTO not_2017
+
+:have_vs_where
+   REM Try to use VsWhere to get the location of VsDevCmd.
+
+   REM Keep VsDevCmd from cd'ing away.
+   SET VSCMD_START_DIR=.
+
+   REM Get the root of the VS product installation.
+   FOR /F "usebackq tokens=*" %%i IN (`"%vs_where%" -latest -requires Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NativeDesktop -property installationPath`) DO @SET vs_ip=%%i
+
+   SET vs_devcmd=%vs_ip%\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat
+   dir "%vs_devcmd%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_devcmd
+   GOTO not_2017
+
+:have_vs_devcmd
+   REM Use VsDevCmd to setup the environment of this process.
+   REM Setup CL for building 64-bit apps using 64-bit tools.
+   @call "%vs_devcmd%" -no_logo -arch=x64 -host_arch=x64
+
+   SET tgt=%VSCMD_ARG_TGT_ARCH%
+
+   SET mn=%VCToolsInstallDir%
+   SET msvc_includes=-I"%mn%INCLUDE"
+   SET msvc_libs=-L"%mn%lib\%tgt%"
+   SET msvc_bin_dir=%mn%bin\Host%VSCMD_ARG_HOST_ARCH%\%tgt%
+
+   SET sdk_dir=%WindowsSdkDir%
+   SET sdk_ver=%WindowsSDKVersion%
+   SET si=%sdk_dir%Include\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_includes=-I"%si%ucrt" -I"%si%um" -I"%si%shared"
+   SET sl=%sdk_dir%lib\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_libs=-L"%sl%ucrt\%tgt%" -L"%sl%um\%tgt%"
+
+   SET vs_ver=%VisualStudioVersion%
+
+   GOTO print_vars
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:not_2017
+   REM See if VS2015 is installed.
+
+   SET vs_2015_bat=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat
+   dir "%vs_2015_bat%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_2015
+   GOTO not_2015
+
+:have_vs_2015
+   REM Use VcVarsAll like the "x64 Native" command prompt.
+   REM Setup CL for building 64-bit apps using 64-bit tools.
+   @call "%vs_2015_bat%" amd64
+
+   REM Note that in VS2015 they use "x64" in some contexts and "amd64" in others.
+   SET mn=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\
+   SET msvc_includes=-I"%mn%INCLUDE"
+   SET msvc_libs=-L"%mn%lib\amd64"
+   SET msvc_bin_dir=%mn%bin\amd64
+
+   SET sdk_dir=%WindowsSdkDir%
+   SET sdk_ver=%WindowsSDKVersion%
+   SET si=%sdk_dir%Include\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_includes=-I"%si%ucrt" -I"%si%um" -I"%si%shared" -I"%si%winrt"
+   SET sl=%sdk_dir%lib\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_libs=-L"%sl%ucrt\x64" -L"%sl%um\x64"
+
+   SET vs_ver=%VisualStudioVersion%
+
+   GOTO print_vars
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:not_2015
+   REM TODO....
+   echo TODO support older versions of VS. >&2
+   EXIT /B 1
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:print_vars
+   REM Dump the essential vars to stdout to allow the main
+   REM Makefile to include it.  See config.mak.uname.
+   REM Include DOS-style and BASH-style path for bin dir.
+
+   echo msvc_bin_dir=%msvc_bin_dir%
+   SET X1=%msvc_bin_dir:C:=/C%
+   SET X2=%X1:\=/%
+   echo msvc_bin_dir_msys=%X2%
+
+   echo msvc_includes=%msvc_includes%
+   echo msvc_libs=%msvc_libs%
+
+   echo sdk_includes=%sdk_includes%
+   echo sdk_libs=%sdk_libs%
+
+   echo vs_ver=%vs_ver%
+
+   EXIT /B 0
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
index a87d0da512..c7b021bfac 100755
--- a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
@@ -12,32 +12,62 @@
 use strict;
 my @args = ();
 my @cflags = ();
+my @lflags = ();
 my $is_linking = 0;
+my $is_debug = 0;
 while (@ARGV) {
 	my $arg = shift @ARGV;
-	if ("$arg" =~ /^-[DIMGO]/) {
+	if ("$arg" eq "-DDEBUG") {
+	    # Some vcpkg-based libraries have different names for release
+	    # and debug versions.  This hack assumes that -DDEBUG comes
+	    # before any "-l*" flags.
+	    $is_debug = 1;
+	}
+	if ("$arg" =~ /^-[DIMGOZ]/) {
 		push(@cflags, $arg);
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-o") {
 		my $file_out = shift @ARGV;
 		if ("$file_out" =~ /exe$/) {
 			$is_linking = 1;
+			# Create foo.exe and foo.pdb
 			push(@args, "-OUT:$file_out");
 		} else {
+			# Create foo.o and foo.o.pdb
 			push(@args, "-Fo$file_out");
+			push(@args, "-Fd$file_out.pdb");
 		}
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lz") {
+	    if ($is_debug) {
+		push(@args, "zlibd.lib");
+	    } else{
 		push(@args, "zlib.lib");
+	    }
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-liconv") {
-		push(@args, "iconv.lib");
+		push(@args, "libiconv.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lcrypto") {
 		push(@args, "libeay32.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lssl") {
 		push(@args, "ssleay32.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lcurl") {
-		push(@args, "libcurl.lib");
+		my $lib = "";
+		# Newer vcpkg definitions call this libcurl_imp.lib; Do we
+		# need to use that instead?
+		foreach my $flag (@lflags) {
+			if ($flag =~ /^-LIBPATH:(.*)/) {
+				foreach my $l ("libcurl_imp.lib", "libcurl.lib") {
+					if (-f "$1/$l") {
+						$lib = $l;
+						last;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		push(@args, $lib);
+	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lexpat") {
+		push(@args, "expat.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" =~ /^-L/ && "$arg" ne "-LTCG") {
 		$arg =~ s/^-L/-LIBPATH:/;
-		push(@args, $arg);
+		push(@lflags, $arg);
 	} elsif ("$arg" =~ /^-R/) {
 		# eat
 	} else {
@@ -45,10 +75,11 @@
 	}
 }
 if ($is_linking) {
+	push(@args, @lflags);
 	unshift(@args, "link.exe");
 } else {
 	unshift(@args, "cl.exe");
 	push(@args, @cflags);
 }
-#printf("**** @args\n");
+printf(STDERR "**** @args\n\n\n") if (!defined($ENV{'QUIET_GEN'}));
 exit (system(@args) != 0);
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..13661c14f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM This script is an optional step. It copies the *.dll and *.pdb
+REM files (created by vcpkg_install.bat) into the top-level directory
+REM of the repo so that you can type "./git.exe" and find them without
+REM having to fixup your PATH.
+REM
+REM NOTE: Because the names of some DLL files change between DEBUG and
+REM NOTE: RELEASE builds when built using "vcpkg.exe", you will need
+REM NOTE: to copy up the corresponding version.
+REM ================================================================
+
+	SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
+
+	@FOR /F "delims=" %%D IN ("%~dp0") DO @SET cwd=%%~fD
+	cd %cwd%
+
+	SET arch=x64-windows
+	SET inst=%cwd%vcpkg\installed\%arch%
+
+	IF [%1]==[release] (
+		echo Copying RELEASE mode DLLs to repo root...
+	) ELSE IF [%1]==[debug] (
+		SET inst=%inst%\debug
+		echo Copying DEBUG mode DLLs to repo root...
+	) ELSE (
+		echo ERROR: Invalid argument.
+		echo Usage: %~0 release
+		echo Usage: %~0 debug
+		EXIT /B 1
+	)
+
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.dll ..\..\
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.pdb ..\..\
+
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.dll ..\..\t\helper\
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.pdb ..\..\t\helper\
+
+	EXIT /B 0
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ebd0bad242
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM This script installs the "vcpkg" source package manager and uses
+REM it to build the third-party libraries that git requires when it
+REM is built using MSVC.
+REM
+REM [1] Install VCPKG.
+REM     [a] Create <root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/
+REM     [b] Download "vcpkg".
+REM     [c] Compile using the currently installed version of VS.
+REM     [d] Create <root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/vcpkg.exe
+REM
+REM [2] Install third-party libraries.
+REM     [a] Download each (which may also install CMAKE).
+REM     [b] Compile in RELEASE mode and install in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/{bin,lib}
+REM     [c] Compile in DEBUG mode and install in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/debug/{bin,lib}
+REM     [d] Install headers in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/include
+REM
+REM [3] Create a set of MAKE definitions for the top-level
+REM     Makefile to allow "make MSVC=1" to find the above
+REM     third-party libraries.
+REM     [a] Write vcpkg/VCPGK-DEFS
+REM
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/09/19/vcpkg-a-tool-to-acquire-and-build-c-open-source-libraries-on-windows/
+REM https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg
+REM https://vcpkg.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
+REM ================================================================
+
+	SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
+
+	@FOR /F "delims=" %%D IN ("%~dp0") DO @SET cwd=%%~fD
+	cd %cwd%
+
+	dir vcpkg\vcpkg.exe >nul 2>nul && GOTO :install_libraries
+
+	echo Fetching vcpkg in %cwd%vcpkg
+	git.exe clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg vcpkg
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	cd vcpkg
+	echo Building vcpkg
+	powershell -exec bypass scripts\bootstrap.ps1
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	echo Successfully installed %cwd%vcpkg\vcpkg.exe
+
+:install_libraries
+	SET arch=x64-windows
+
+	echo Installing third-party libraries...
+	FOR %%i IN (zlib expat libiconv openssl libssh2 curl) DO (
+	    cd %cwd%vcpkg
+	    IF NOT EXIST "packages\%%i_%arch%" CALL :sub__install_one %%i
+	    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+	)
+
+:install_defines
+	cd %cwd%
+	SET inst=%cwd%vcpkg\installed\%arch%
+
+	echo vcpkg_inc=-I"%inst%\include">VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_rel_lib=-L"%inst%\lib">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_rel_bin="%inst%\bin">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_dbg_lib=-L"%inst%\debug\lib">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_dbg_bin="%inst%\debug\bin">>VCPKG-DEFS
+
+	EXIT /B 0
+
+
+:sub__install_one
+	echo     Installing package %1...
+
+	.\vcpkg.exe install %1:%arch%
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	echo     Finished %1
+	goto :EOF
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 3310f6284c..36237711c5 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Platform specific Makefile tweaks based on uname detection
 
+# Define NO_SAFESEH if you need MSVC/Visual Studio to ignore the lack of
+# Microsoft's Safe Exception Handling in libraries (such as zlib).
+# Typically required for VS2013+/32-bit compilation on Vista+ versions.
+
 uname_S := $(shell sh -c 'uname -s 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_M := $(shell sh -c 'uname -m 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_O := $(shell sh -c 'uname -o 2>/dev/null || echo not')
@@ -11,6 +15,19 @@ ifdef MSVC
 	# avoid the MingW and Cygwin configuration sections
 	uname_S := Windows
 	uname_O := Windows
+
+	# Generate and include makefile variables that point to the
+	# currently installed set of MSVC command line tools.
+compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN: compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
+	@"$<" | tr '\\' / >"$@"
+include compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+
+	# See if vcpkg and the vcpkg-build versions of the third-party
+	# libraries that we use are installed.  We include the result
+	# to get $(vcpkg_*) variables defined for the Makefile.
+compat/vcbuild/VCPKG-DEFS: compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
+	@"$<"
+include compat/vcbuild/VCPKG-DEFS
 endif
 
 # We choose to avoid "if .. else if .. else .. endif endif"
@@ -356,6 +373,19 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	GIT_VERSION := $(GIT_VERSION).MSVC
 	pathsep = ;
+	# Assume that this is built in Git for Windows' SDK
+	ifeq (MINGW32,$(MSYSTEM))
+		prefix = /mingw32
+	else
+		prefix = /mingw64
+	endif
+	# Prepend MSVC 64-bit tool-chain to PATH.
+	#
+	# A regular Git Bash *does not* have cl.exe in its $PATH. As there is a
+	# link.exe next to, and required by, cl.exe, we have to prepend this
+	# onto the existing $PATH.
+	#
+	SANE_TOOL_PATH ?= $(msvc_bin_dir_msys)
 	HAVE_ALLOCA_H = YesPlease
 	NO_PREAD = YesPlease
 	NEEDS_CRYPTO_WITH_SSL = YesPlease
@@ -368,11 +398,14 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_STRCASESTR = YesPlease
 	NO_STRLCPY = YesPlease
 	NO_MEMMEM = YesPlease
-	# NEEDS_LIBICONV = YesPlease
-	NO_ICONV = YesPlease
+	NEEDS_LIBICONV = YesPlease
 	NO_STRTOUMAX = YesPlease
 	NO_MKDTEMP = YesPlease
-	SNPRINTF_RETURNS_BOGUS = YesPlease
+	NO_INTTYPES_H = YesPlease
+	# VS2015 with UCRT claims that snprintf and friends are C99 compliant,
+	# so we don't need this:
+	#
+	#   SNPRINTF_RETURNS_BOGUS = YesPlease
 	NO_SVN_TESTS = YesPlease
 	RUNTIME_PREFIX = YesPlease
 	HAVE_WPGMPTR = YesWeDo
@@ -385,7 +418,6 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_REGEX = YesPlease
 	NO_GETTEXT = YesPlease
 	NO_PYTHON = YesPlease
-	BLK_SHA1 = YesPlease
 	ETAGS_TARGET = ETAGS
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	NATIVE_CRLF = YesPlease
@@ -394,24 +426,46 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	CC = compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
 	AR = compat/vcbuild/scripts/lib.pl
 	CFLAGS =
-	BASIC_CFLAGS = -nologo -I. -I../zlib -Icompat/vcbuild -Icompat/vcbuild/include -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -DHAVE_STRING_H -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS -D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE
+	BASIC_CFLAGS = -nologo -I. -Icompat/vcbuild/include -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -DHAVE_STRING_H -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS -D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE
 	COMPAT_OBJS = compat/msvc.o compat/winansi.o \
 		compat/win32/path-utils.o \
 		compat/win32/pthread.o compat/win32/syslog.o \
 		compat/win32/trace2_win32_process_info.o \
 		compat/win32/dirent.o
-	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
+	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DDETECT_MSYS_TTY -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
 	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
-	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj
+	# invalidcontinue.obj allows Git's source code to close the same file
+	# handle twice, or to access the osfhandle of an already-closed stdout
+	# See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235330.aspx
+	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj kernel32.lib ntdll.lib
 	PTHREAD_LIBS =
 	lib =
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_inc) $(sdk_includes) $(msvc_includes)
+ifndef DEBUG
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_rel_lib)
+else
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_dbg_lib)
+endif
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(sdk_libs) $(msvc_libs)
+
+	# Optionally enable memory leak reporting.
+	# BASIC_CLFAGS += -DUSE_MSVC_CRTDBG
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DPROTECT_NTFS_DEFAULT=1
+	# Always give "-Zi" to the compiler and "-debug" to linker (even in
+	# release mode) to force a PDB to be generated (like RelWithDebInfo).
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -debug -Zf
+
+ifdef NO_SAFESEH
+	LDFLAGS += -SAFESEH:NO
+endif
+
 ifndef DEBUG
-	BASIC_CFLAGS += -GL -Os -MD
-	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -LTCG
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -GL -Gy -O2 -Oy- -MD -DNDEBUG
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -release -LTCG /OPT:REF /OPT:ICF /INCREMENTAL:NO /DEBUGTYPE:CV,FIXUP
 	AR += -LTCG
 else
-	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi -MDd
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -MDd -DDEBUG -D_DEBUG
 endif
 	X = .exe
 
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index cc0e7e9733..83be89de0a 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 #ifndef GIT_COMPAT_UTIL_H
 #define GIT_COMPAT_UTIL_H
 
+#ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
+/*
+ * For these to work they must appear very early in each
+ * file -- before most of the standard header files.
+ */
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <crtdbg.h>
+#endif
+
 #define _FILE_OFFSET_BITS 64
 
 

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index d7525cf61d..1d7a8c6145 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 #include <malloc.h>
 #include <io.h>
 
+#pragma warning(disable: 4018) /* signed/unsigned comparison */
+#pragma warning(disable: 4244) /* type conversion, possible loss of data */
+#pragma warning(disable: 4090) /* 'function' : different 'const' qualifiers (ALLOC_GROW etc.)*/
+
 /* porting function */
 #define inline __inline
 #define __inline__ __inline

diff --git a/compat/winansi.c b/compat/winansi.c
index f4f08237f9..11cd9b82cc 100644
--- a/compat/winansi.c
+++ b/compat/winansi.c
@@ -544,7 +544,20 @@ static HANDLE swap_osfhnd(int fd, HANDLE new_handle)
 #ifdef DETECT_MSYS_TTY
 
 #include <winternl.h>
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+
+typedef struct _OBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION
+{
+	UNICODE_STRING Name;
+	WCHAR NameBuffer[0];
+} OBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION, *POBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION;
+
+#define ObjectNameInformation 1
+
+#else
 #include <ntstatus.h>
+#endif
 
 static void detect_msys_tty(int fd)
 {

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2374f77a1a..ba0e52c4d1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -226,6 +226,11 @@
 *.user
 *.idb
 *.pdb
+*.ilk
+*.iobj
+*.ipdb
+*.dll
+.vs/
 /Debug/
 /Release/
 *.dSYM

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index d336d80670..d7525cf61d 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 #undef ERROR
 
+#define ftello _ftelli64
+
 typedef int sigset_t;
 /* open for reading, writing, or both (not in fcntl.h) */
 #define O_ACCMODE     (_O_RDONLY | _O_WRONLY | _O_RDWR)

diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index b71688eeb7..9fc053cac0 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ ifneq (,$(wildcard ../THIS_IS_MSYSGIT))
 	INTERNAL_QSORT = YesPlease
 	HAVE_LIBCHARSET_H = YesPlease
 	NO_GETTEXT = YesPlease
-	COMPAT_CLFAGS += -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS
+	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS
 else
 	ifneq ($(shell expr "$(uname_R)" : '1\.'),2)
 		# MSys2

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 9fa72ad450..b08a1416d8 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 *.pl eof=lf diff=perl
 *.pm eol=lf diff=perl
 *.py eol=lf diff=python
+*.bat eol=crlf
 /Documentation/**/*.txt eol=lf
 /command-list.txt eol=lf
 /GIT-VERSION-GEN eol=lf

diff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh
index 77a224aafb..387e4e6b81 100755
--- a/t/t0001-init.sh
+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh
@@ -473,8 +473,8 @@ test_expect_success MINGW 'redirect std handles' '
 		GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT=output.txt \
 		GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR="2>&1" \
 		git rev-parse --git-dir --verify refs/invalid &&
-	printf ".git\nfatal: Needed a single revision\n" >expect &&
-	test_cmp expect output.txt
+	grep "^\\.git\$" output.txt &&
+	grep "Needed a single revision" output.txt
 '
 
 test_done

diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 6ddece0350..473613a20d 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -414,6 +414,8 @@ else
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi -MDd
 endif
 	X = .exe
+
+compat/msvc.o: compat/msvc.c compat/mingw.c GIT-CFLAGS
 endif
 ifeq ($(uname_S),Interix)
 	NO_INITGROUPS = YesPlease

compat/mingw.c, compat/mingw.h, config.mak.uname

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 9b6d2400e1..0d8713e515 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2301,18 +2301,13 @@ static void setup_windows_environment(void)
 		setenv("TERM", "cygwin", 1);
 }
 
+#if !defined(_MSC_VER)
 /*
  * Disable MSVCRT command line wildcard expansion (__getmainargs called from
  * mingw startup code, see init.c in mingw runtime).
  */
 int _CRT_glob = 0;
-
-typedef struct {
-	int newmode;
-} _startupinfo;
-
-extern int __wgetmainargs(int *argc, wchar_t ***argv, wchar_t ***env, int glob,
-		_startupinfo *si);
+#endif
 
 static NORETURN void die_startup(void)
 {
@@ -2390,22 +2385,25 @@ static void maybe_redirect_std_handles(void)
 				  GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING);
 }
 
-void mingw_startup(void)
+/*
+ * We implement wmain() and compile with -municode, which would
+ * normally ignore main(), but we call the latter from the former
+ * so that we can handle non-ASCII command-line parameters
+ * appropriately.
+ *
+ * To be more compatible with the core git code, we convert
+ * argv into UTF8 and pass them directly to main().
+ */
+int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 {
-	int i, maxlen, argc;
-	char *buffer;
-	wchar_t **wenv, **wargv;
-	_startupinfo si;
+	int i, maxlen, exit_status;
+	char *buffer, **save;
+	const char **argv;
 
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
 	maybe_redirect_std_handles();
 
-	/* get wide char arguments and environment */
-	si.newmode = 0;
-	if (__wgetmainargs(&argc, &wargv, &wenv, _CRT_glob, &si) < 0)
-		die_startup();
-
 	/* determine size of argv and environ conversion buffer */
 	maxlen = wcslen(wargv[0]);
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
@@ -2415,9 +2413,16 @@ void mingw_startup(void)
 	maxlen = 3 * maxlen + 1;
 	buffer = malloc_startup(maxlen);
 
-	/* convert command line arguments and environment to UTF-8 */
+	/*
+	 * Create a UTF-8 version of w_argv. Also create a "save" copy
+	 * to remember all the string pointers because parse_options()
+	 * will remove claimed items from the argv that we pass down.
+	 */
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(argv, argc + 1);
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(save, argc + 1);
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
-		__argv[i] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, wargv[i], maxlen);
+		argv[i] = save[i] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, wargv[i], maxlen);
+	argv[i] = save[i] = NULL;
 	free(buffer);
 
 	/* fix Windows specific environment settings */
@@ -2436,6 +2441,16 @@ void mingw_startup(void)
 
 	/* initialize Unicode console */
 	winansi_init();
+
+	/* invoke the real main() using our utf8 version of argv. */
+	exit_status = main(argc, argv);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
+		free(save[i]);
+	free(save);
+	free(argv);
+
+	return exit_status;
 }
 
 int uname(struct utsname *buf)
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 593bdbffe6..210f1b01a8 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -562,18 +562,18 @@ int xwcstoutf(char *utf, const wchar_t *wcs, size_t utflen);
 extern CRITICAL_SECTION pinfo_cs;
 
 /*
- * A replacement of main() that adds win32 specific initialization.
+ * Git, like most portable C applications, implements a main() function. On
+ * Windows, this main() function would receive parameters encoded in the
+ * current locale, but Git for Windows would prefer UTF-8 encoded  parameters.
+ *
+ * To make that happen, we still declare main() here, and then declare and
+ * implement wmain() (which is the Unicode variant of main()) and compile with
+ * -municode. This wmain() function reencodes the parameters from UTF-16 to
+ * UTF-8 format, sets up a couple of other things as required on Windows, and
+ * then hands off to the main() function.
  */
-
-void mingw_startup(void);
-#define main(c,v) dummy_decl_mingw_main(void); \
-static int mingw_main(c,v); \
-int main(int argc, const char **argv) \
-{ \
-	mingw_startup(); \
-	return mingw_main(__argc, (void *)__argv); \
-} \
-static int mingw_main(c,v)
+int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **w_argv);
+int main(int argc, const char **argv);
 
 /*
  * Used by Pthread API implementation for Windows
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 9fc053cac0..6ddece0350 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 		compat/win32/trace2_win32_process_info.o \
 		compat/win32/dirent.o
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
-	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
 	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj
 	PTHREAD_LIBS =
 	lib =
@@ -548,6 +548,7 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	ETAGS_TARGET = ETAGS
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	DEFAULT_HELP_FORMAT = html
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -municode
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DNOGDI -Icompat -Icompat/win32
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
 	COMPAT_OBJS += compat/mingw.o compat/winansi.o \

diff --git a/compat/obstack.h b/compat/obstack.h
index ced94d0118..ae36ed6a66 100644
--- a/compat/obstack.h
+++ b/compat/obstack.h
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ __extension__								\
 ( (h)->temp.tempint = (char *) (obj) - (char *) (h)->chunk,		\
   ((((h)->temp.tempint > 0						\
     && (h)->temp.tempint < (h)->chunk_limit - (char *) (h)->chunk))	\
-   ? (int) ((h)->next_free = (h)->object_base				\
+   ? (ptrdiff_t) ((h)->next_free = (h)->object_base				\
 	    = (h)->temp.tempint + (char *) (h)->chunk)			\
    : (((obstack_free) ((h), (h)->temp.tempint + (char *) (h)->chunk), 0), 0)))
 

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index 04b4750b87..d336d80670 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #undef ERROR
 
 typedef int sigset_t;
+/* open for reading, writing, or both (not in fcntl.h) */
+#define O_ACCMODE     (_O_RDONLY | _O_WRONLY | _O_RDWR)
 
 #include "compat/mingw.h"
 

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 0d8713e515..d14d33308d 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1553,7 +1553,10 @@ static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 	if (prog) {
 		int exec_id;
 		int argc = 0;
-		const char **argv2;
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+		const
+#endif
+		char **argv2;
 		while (argv[argc]) argc++;
 		ALLOC_ARRAY(argv2, argc + 1);
 		argv2[0] = (char *)cmd;	/* full path to the script file */

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index d336d80670..d7525cf61d 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 #undef ERROR
 
+#define ftello _ftelli64
+
 typedef int sigset_t;
 /* open for reading, writing, or both (not in fcntl.h) */
 #define O_ACCMODE     (_O_RDONLY | _O_WRONLY | _O_RDWR)

compat/mingw.c, config.mak.uname, git-compat-util.h

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index c063ae62be..667285887a 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2411,6 +2411,12 @@ int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
+	_CrtSetDbgFlag(_CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF);
+#endif
+#endif
+
 	maybe_redirect_std_handles();
 
 	/* determine size of argv and environ conversion buffer */
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index b8c52e49d2..3fde48c64d 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -448,6 +448,10 @@ else
 endif
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(sdk_libs) $(msvc_libs)
 
+ifneq ($(USE_MSVC_CRTDBG),)
+	# Optionally enable memory leak reporting.
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DUSE_MSVC_CRTDBG
+endif
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DPROTECT_NTFS_DEFAULT=1
 	# Always give "-Zi" to the compiler and "-debug" to linker (even in
 	# release mode) to force a PDB to be generated (like RelWithDebInfo).
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index cc0e7e9733..83be89de0a 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 #ifndef GIT_COMPAT_UTIL_H
 #define GIT_COMPAT_UTIL_H
 
+#ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
+/*
+ * For these to work they must appear very early in each
+ * file -- before most of the standard header files.
+ */
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <crtdbg.h>
+#endif
+
 #define _FILE_OFFSET_BITS 64
 
 

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index d7525cf61d..1d7a8c6145 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 #include <malloc.h>
 #include <io.h>
 
+#pragma warning(disable: 4018) /* signed/unsigned comparison */
+#pragma warning(disable: 4244) /* type conversion, possible loss of data */
+#pragma warning(disable: 4090) /* 'function' : different 'const' qualifiers (ALLOC_GROW etc.)*/
+
 /* porting function */
 #define inline __inline
 #define __inline__ __inline

Makefile, compat/mingw.c, compat/vcbuild/.gitignore, compat/vcbuild/README, compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat, compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl, compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat, compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat, config.mak.uname

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3cf8cc8ffd..2b66d5a3f3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1240,7 +1240,7 @@ endif
 
 ifdef SANE_TOOL_PATH
 SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(SANE_TOOL_PATH))
-BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix "$(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)"|'
+BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix $(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)|'
 PATH := $(SANE_TOOL_PATH):${PATH}
 else
 BROKEN_PATH_FIX = '/^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$/d'
@@ -2873,6 +2873,33 @@ install: all
 	$(INSTALL) $(ALL_PROGRAMS) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 $(SCRIPT_LIB) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) $(install_bindir_programs) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+ifdef MSVC
+	# We DO NOT install the individual foo.o.pdb files because they
+	# have already been rolled up into the exe's pdb file.
+	# We DO NOT have pdb files for the builtin commands (like git-status.exe)
+	# because it is just a copy/hardlink of git.exe, rather than a unique binary.
+	$(INSTALL) git.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-shell.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-upload-pack.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-credential-store.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-daemon.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-fast-import.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-backend.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-fetch.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-push.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-imap-send.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-remote-http.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-remote-testsvn.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-sh-i18n--envsubst.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-show-index.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+ifndef DEBUG
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_rel_bin)/*.dll '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_rel_bin)/*.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+else
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_dbg_bin)/*.dll '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_dbg_bin)/*.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+endif
+endif
 	$(MAKE) -C templates DESTDIR='$(DESTDIR_SQ)' install
 	$(INSTALL) -d -m 755 '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(mergetools_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 mergetools/* '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(mergetools_instdir_SQ)'
@@ -3085,6 +3112,19 @@ endif
 	$(RM) GIT-VERSION-FILE GIT-CFLAGS GIT-LDFLAGS GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS
 	$(RM) GIT-USER-AGENT GIT-PREFIX
 	$(RM) GIT-SCRIPT-DEFINES GIT-PERL-DEFINES GIT-PERL-HEADER GIT-PYTHON-VARS
+ifdef MSVC
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.o,%.o.pdb,$(OBJECTS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+endif
 
 .PHONY: all install profile-clean cocciclean clean strip
 .PHONY: shell_compatibility_test please_set_SHELL_PATH_to_a_more_modern_shell
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index d14d33308d..c063ae62be 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2388,6 +2388,12 @@ static void maybe_redirect_std_handles(void)
 				  GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING);
 }
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef _DEBUG
+#include <crtdbg.h>
+#endif
+#endif
+
 /*
  * We implement wmain() and compile with -municode, which would
  * normally ignore main(), but we call the latter from the former
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore b/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8f8b794ef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+/vcpkg/
+/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+/VCPKG-DEFS
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/README b/compat/vcbuild/README
index 60fd873fe8..b633e7db98 100644
--- a/compat/vcbuild/README
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/README
@@ -1,3 +1,42 @@
+The Steps to Build Git with VS2015 or VS2017 from the command line.
+
+1. Install the "vcpkg" open source package manager and build essential
+   third-party libraries.  The steps for this have been captured in a
+   set of convenience scripts.  These can be run from a stock Command
+   Prompt or from an SDK bash window:
+
+   $ cd <repo_root>
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
+
+   The vcpkg tools and all of the third-party sources will be installed
+   in this folder:
+      <repo_root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/
+
+   A file will be created with a set of Makefile macros pointing to a
+   unified "include", "lib", and "bin" directory (release and debug) for
+   all of the required packages.  This file will be included by the main
+   Makefile:
+      <repo_root>/compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+
+2. OPTIONALLY copy the third-party *.dll and *.pdb files into the repo
+   root to make it easier to run and debug git.exe without having to
+   manipulate your PATH.  This is especially true for debug sessions in
+   Visual Studio.
+
+   Use ONE of the following forms which should match how you want to
+   compile git.exe.
+
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_packages.bat debug
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_packages.bat release
+
+3. Build git using MSVC from an SDK bash window using one of the
+   following commands:
+
+   $ make MSVC=1
+   $ make MSVC=1 DEBUG=1
+
+================================================================
+
 The Steps of Build Git with VS2008
 
 1. You need the build environment, which contains the Git dependencies
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat b/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..40194dd230
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM You can use either GCC (the default) or MSVC to build git
+REM using the GIT-SDK command line tools.
+REM        $ make
+REM        $ make MSVC=1
+REM
+REM GIT-SDK BASH windows inherit environment variables with all of
+REM the bin/lib/include paths for GCC.  It DOES NOT inherit values
+REM for the corresponding MSVC tools.
+REM
+REM During normal (non-git) Windows development, you launch one
+REM of the provided "developer command prompts" to set environment
+REM variables for the MSVC tools.
+REM
+REM Therefore, to allow MSVC command line builds of git from BASH
+REM and MAKE, we must blend these two different worlds.  This script
+REM attempts to do that.
+REM ================================================================
+REM This BAT file starts in a plain (non-developer) command prompt,
+REM searches for the "best" commmand prompt setup script, installs
+REM it into the current CMD process, and exports the various MSVC
+REM environment variables for use by MAKE.
+REM
+REM The output of this script should be written to a make "include
+REM file" and referenced by the top-level Makefile.
+REM
+REM See "config.mak.uname" (look for compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN).
+REM ================================================================
+REM The provided command prompts are custom to each VS release and
+REM filled with lots of internal knowledge (such as Registry settings);
+REM even their names vary by release, so it is not appropriate for us
+REM to look inside them.  Rather, just run them in a subordinate
+REM process and extract the settings we need.
+REM ================================================================
+REM
+REM Current (VS2017 and beyond)
+REM -------------------
+REM Visual Studio 2017 introduced a new installation layout and
+REM support for side-by-side installation of multiple versions of
+REM VS2017.  Furthermore, these can all coexist with installations
+REM of previous versions of VS (which have a completely different
+REM layout on disk).
+REM
+REM VS2017 Update 2 introduced a "vswhere.exe" command:
+REM https://github.com/Microsoft/vswhere
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/heaths/2017/02/25/vswhere-available/
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2017/03/06/finding-the-visual-c-compiler-tools-in-visual-studio-2017/
+REM
+REM VS2015
+REM ------
+REM Visual Studio 2015 uses the traditional VcVarsAll.
+REM
+REM Earlier Versions
+REM ----------------
+REM Currently unsupported.
+REM
+REM ================================================================
+REM Note: Throughout this script we use "dir <path> && <cmd>" rather
+REM than "if exist <path>" because of script problems with pathnames
+REM containing spaces.
+REM ================================================================
+
+REM Sanitize PATH to prevent git-sdk paths from confusing "wmic.exe"
+REM (called internally in some of the system BAT files).
+SET PATH=%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:current
+   SET vs_where=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe
+   dir "%vs_where%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_where
+   GOTO not_2017
+
+:have_vs_where
+   REM Try to use VsWhere to get the location of VsDevCmd.
+
+   REM Keep VsDevCmd from cd'ing away.
+   SET VSCMD_START_DIR=.
+
+   REM Get the root of the VS product installation.
+   FOR /F "usebackq tokens=*" %%i IN (`"%vs_where%" -latest -requires Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NativeDesktop -property installationPath`) DO @SET vs_ip=%%i
+
+   SET vs_devcmd=%vs_ip%\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat
+   dir "%vs_devcmd%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_devcmd
+   GOTO not_2017
+
+:have_vs_devcmd
+   REM Use VsDevCmd to setup the environment of this process.
+   REM Setup CL for building 64-bit apps using 64-bit tools.
+   @call "%vs_devcmd%" -no_logo -arch=x64 -host_arch=x64
+
+   SET tgt=%VSCMD_ARG_TGT_ARCH%
+
+   SET mn=%VCToolsInstallDir%
+   SET msvc_includes=-I"%mn%INCLUDE"
+   SET msvc_libs=-L"%mn%lib\%tgt%"
+   SET msvc_bin_dir=%mn%bin\Host%VSCMD_ARG_HOST_ARCH%\%tgt%
+
+   SET sdk_dir=%WindowsSdkDir%
+   SET sdk_ver=%WindowsSDKVersion%
+   SET si=%sdk_dir%Include\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_includes=-I"%si%ucrt" -I"%si%um" -I"%si%shared"
+   SET sl=%sdk_dir%lib\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_libs=-L"%sl%ucrt\%tgt%" -L"%sl%um\%tgt%"
+
+   SET vs_ver=%VisualStudioVersion%
+
+   GOTO print_vars
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:not_2017
+   REM See if VS2015 is installed.
+
+   SET vs_2015_bat=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat
+   dir "%vs_2015_bat%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_2015
+   GOTO not_2015
+
+:have_vs_2015
+   REM Use VcVarsAll like the "x64 Native" command prompt.
+   REM Setup CL for building 64-bit apps using 64-bit tools.
+   @call "%vs_2015_bat%" amd64
+
+   REM Note that in VS2015 they use "x64" in some contexts and "amd64" in others.
+   SET mn=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\
+   SET msvc_includes=-I"%mn%INCLUDE"
+   SET msvc_libs=-L"%mn%lib\amd64"
+   SET msvc_bin_dir=%mn%bin\amd64
+
+   SET sdk_dir=%WindowsSdkDir%
+   SET sdk_ver=%WindowsSDKVersion%
+   SET si=%sdk_dir%Include\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_includes=-I"%si%ucrt" -I"%si%um" -I"%si%shared" -I"%si%winrt"
+   SET sl=%sdk_dir%lib\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_libs=-L"%sl%ucrt\x64" -L"%sl%um\x64"
+
+   SET vs_ver=%VisualStudioVersion%
+
+   GOTO print_vars
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:not_2015
+   echo "ERROR: unsupported VS version (older than VS2015)" >&2
+   EXIT /B 1
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:print_vars
+   REM Dump the essential vars to stdout to allow the main
+   REM Makefile to include it.  See config.mak.uname.
+   REM Include DOS-style and BASH-style path for bin dir.
+
+   echo msvc_bin_dir=%msvc_bin_dir%
+   SET X1=%msvc_bin_dir:C:=/C%
+   SET X2=%X1:\=/%
+   echo msvc_bin_dir_msys=%X2%
+
+   echo msvc_includes=%msvc_includes%
+   echo msvc_libs=%msvc_libs%
+
+   echo sdk_includes=%sdk_includes%
+   echo sdk_libs=%sdk_libs%
+
+   echo vs_ver=%vs_ver%
+
+   EXIT /B 0
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
index a87d0da512..c7b021bfac 100755
--- a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
@@ -12,32 +12,62 @@
 use strict;
 my @args = ();
 my @cflags = ();
+my @lflags = ();
 my $is_linking = 0;
+my $is_debug = 0;
 while (@ARGV) {
 	my $arg = shift @ARGV;
-	if ("$arg" =~ /^-[DIMGO]/) {
+	if ("$arg" eq "-DDEBUG") {
+	    # Some vcpkg-based libraries have different names for release
+	    # and debug versions.  This hack assumes that -DDEBUG comes
+	    # before any "-l*" flags.
+	    $is_debug = 1;
+	}
+	if ("$arg" =~ /^-[DIMGOZ]/) {
 		push(@cflags, $arg);
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-o") {
 		my $file_out = shift @ARGV;
 		if ("$file_out" =~ /exe$/) {
 			$is_linking = 1;
+			# Create foo.exe and foo.pdb
 			push(@args, "-OUT:$file_out");
 		} else {
+			# Create foo.o and foo.o.pdb
 			push(@args, "-Fo$file_out");
+			push(@args, "-Fd$file_out.pdb");
 		}
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lz") {
+	    if ($is_debug) {
+		push(@args, "zlibd.lib");
+	    } else{
 		push(@args, "zlib.lib");
+	    }
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-liconv") {
-		push(@args, "iconv.lib");
+		push(@args, "libiconv.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lcrypto") {
 		push(@args, "libeay32.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lssl") {
 		push(@args, "ssleay32.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lcurl") {
-		push(@args, "libcurl.lib");
+		my $lib = "";
+		# Newer vcpkg definitions call this libcurl_imp.lib; Do we
+		# need to use that instead?
+		foreach my $flag (@lflags) {
+			if ($flag =~ /^-LIBPATH:(.*)/) {
+				foreach my $l ("libcurl_imp.lib", "libcurl.lib") {
+					if (-f "$1/$l") {
+						$lib = $l;
+						last;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		push(@args, $lib);
+	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lexpat") {
+		push(@args, "expat.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" =~ /^-L/ && "$arg" ne "-LTCG") {
 		$arg =~ s/^-L/-LIBPATH:/;
-		push(@args, $arg);
+		push(@lflags, $arg);
 	} elsif ("$arg" =~ /^-R/) {
 		# eat
 	} else {
@@ -45,10 +75,11 @@
 	}
 }
 if ($is_linking) {
+	push(@args, @lflags);
 	unshift(@args, "link.exe");
 } else {
 	unshift(@args, "cl.exe");
 	push(@args, @cflags);
 }
-#printf("**** @args\n");
+printf(STDERR "**** @args\n\n\n") if (!defined($ENV{'QUIET_GEN'}));
 exit (system(@args) != 0);
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..13661c14f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM This script is an optional step. It copies the *.dll and *.pdb
+REM files (created by vcpkg_install.bat) into the top-level directory
+REM of the repo so that you can type "./git.exe" and find them without
+REM having to fixup your PATH.
+REM
+REM NOTE: Because the names of some DLL files change between DEBUG and
+REM NOTE: RELEASE builds when built using "vcpkg.exe", you will need
+REM NOTE: to copy up the corresponding version.
+REM ================================================================
+
+	SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
+
+	@FOR /F "delims=" %%D IN ("%~dp0") DO @SET cwd=%%~fD
+	cd %cwd%
+
+	SET arch=x64-windows
+	SET inst=%cwd%vcpkg\installed\%arch%
+
+	IF [%1]==[release] (
+		echo Copying RELEASE mode DLLs to repo root...
+	) ELSE IF [%1]==[debug] (
+		SET inst=%inst%\debug
+		echo Copying DEBUG mode DLLs to repo root...
+	) ELSE (
+		echo ERROR: Invalid argument.
+		echo Usage: %~0 release
+		echo Usage: %~0 debug
+		EXIT /B 1
+	)
+
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.dll ..\..\
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.pdb ..\..\
+
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.dll ..\..\t\helper\
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.pdb ..\..\t\helper\
+
+	EXIT /B 0
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ebd0bad242
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM This script installs the "vcpkg" source package manager and uses
+REM it to build the third-party libraries that git requires when it
+REM is built using MSVC.
+REM
+REM [1] Install VCPKG.
+REM     [a] Create <root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/
+REM     [b] Download "vcpkg".
+REM     [c] Compile using the currently installed version of VS.
+REM     [d] Create <root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/vcpkg.exe
+REM
+REM [2] Install third-party libraries.
+REM     [a] Download each (which may also install CMAKE).
+REM     [b] Compile in RELEASE mode and install in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/{bin,lib}
+REM     [c] Compile in DEBUG mode and install in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/debug/{bin,lib}
+REM     [d] Install headers in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/include
+REM
+REM [3] Create a set of MAKE definitions for the top-level
+REM     Makefile to allow "make MSVC=1" to find the above
+REM     third-party libraries.
+REM     [a] Write vcpkg/VCPGK-DEFS
+REM
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/09/19/vcpkg-a-tool-to-acquire-and-build-c-open-source-libraries-on-windows/
+REM https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg
+REM https://vcpkg.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
+REM ================================================================
+
+	SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
+
+	@FOR /F "delims=" %%D IN ("%~dp0") DO @SET cwd=%%~fD
+	cd %cwd%
+
+	dir vcpkg\vcpkg.exe >nul 2>nul && GOTO :install_libraries
+
+	echo Fetching vcpkg in %cwd%vcpkg
+	git.exe clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg vcpkg
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	cd vcpkg
+	echo Building vcpkg
+	powershell -exec bypass scripts\bootstrap.ps1
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	echo Successfully installed %cwd%vcpkg\vcpkg.exe
+
+:install_libraries
+	SET arch=x64-windows
+
+	echo Installing third-party libraries...
+	FOR %%i IN (zlib expat libiconv openssl libssh2 curl) DO (
+	    cd %cwd%vcpkg
+	    IF NOT EXIST "packages\%%i_%arch%" CALL :sub__install_one %%i
+	    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+	)
+
+:install_defines
+	cd %cwd%
+	SET inst=%cwd%vcpkg\installed\%arch%
+
+	echo vcpkg_inc=-I"%inst%\include">VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_rel_lib=-L"%inst%\lib">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_rel_bin="%inst%\bin">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_dbg_lib=-L"%inst%\debug\lib">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_dbg_bin="%inst%\debug\bin">>VCPKG-DEFS
+
+	EXIT /B 0
+
+
+:sub__install_one
+	echo     Installing package %1...
+
+	.\vcpkg.exe install %1:%arch%
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	echo     Finished %1
+	goto :EOF
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 473613a20d..b8c52e49d2 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Platform specific Makefile tweaks based on uname detection
 
+# Define NO_SAFESEH if you need MSVC/Visual Studio to ignore the lack of
+# Microsoft's Safe Exception Handling in libraries (such as zlib).
+# Typically required for VS2013+/32-bit compilation on Vista+ versions.
+
 uname_S := $(shell sh -c 'uname -s 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_M := $(shell sh -c 'uname -m 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_O := $(shell sh -c 'uname -o 2>/dev/null || echo not')
@@ -11,6 +15,19 @@ ifdef MSVC
 	# avoid the MingW and Cygwin configuration sections
 	uname_S := Windows
 	uname_O := Windows
+
+	# Generate and include makefile variables that point to the
+	# currently installed set of MSVC command line tools.
+compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN: compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
+	@"$<" | tr '\\' / >"$@"
+include compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+
+	# See if vcpkg and the vcpkg-build versions of the third-party
+	# libraries that we use are installed.  We include the result
+	# to get $(vcpkg_*) variables defined for the Makefile.
+compat/vcbuild/VCPKG-DEFS: compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
+	@"$<"
+include compat/vcbuild/VCPKG-DEFS
 endif
 
 # We choose to avoid "if .. else if .. else .. endif endif"
@@ -356,6 +373,19 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	GIT_VERSION := $(GIT_VERSION).MSVC
 	pathsep = ;
+	# Assume that this is built in Git for Windows' SDK
+	ifeq (MINGW32,$(MSYSTEM))
+		prefix = /mingw32
+	else
+		prefix = /mingw64
+	endif
+	# Prepend MSVC 64-bit tool-chain to PATH.
+	#
+	# A regular Git Bash *does not* have cl.exe in its $PATH. As there is a
+	# link.exe next to, and required by, cl.exe, we have to prepend this
+	# onto the existing $PATH.
+	#
+	SANE_TOOL_PATH ?= $(msvc_bin_dir_msys)
 	HAVE_ALLOCA_H = YesPlease
 	NO_PREAD = YesPlease
 	NEEDS_CRYPTO_WITH_SSL = YesPlease
@@ -368,11 +398,14 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_STRCASESTR = YesPlease
 	NO_STRLCPY = YesPlease
 	NO_MEMMEM = YesPlease
-	# NEEDS_LIBICONV = YesPlease
-	NO_ICONV = YesPlease
+	NEEDS_LIBICONV = YesPlease
 	NO_STRTOUMAX = YesPlease
 	NO_MKDTEMP = YesPlease
-	SNPRINTF_RETURNS_BOGUS = YesPlease
+	NO_INTTYPES_H = YesPlease
+	# VS2015 with UCRT claims that snprintf and friends are C99 compliant,
+	# so we don't need this:
+	#
+	#   SNPRINTF_RETURNS_BOGUS = YesPlease
 	NO_SVN_TESTS = YesPlease
 	RUNTIME_PREFIX = YesPlease
 	HAVE_WPGMPTR = YesWeDo
@@ -385,7 +418,6 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_REGEX = YesPlease
 	NO_GETTEXT = YesPlease
 	NO_PYTHON = YesPlease
-	BLK_SHA1 = YesPlease
 	ETAGS_TARGET = ETAGS
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	NATIVE_CRLF = YesPlease
@@ -394,24 +426,44 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	CC = compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
 	AR = compat/vcbuild/scripts/lib.pl
 	CFLAGS =
-	BASIC_CFLAGS = -nologo -I. -I../zlib -Icompat/vcbuild -Icompat/vcbuild/include -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -DHAVE_STRING_H -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS -D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE
+	BASIC_CFLAGS = -nologo -I. -Icompat/vcbuild/include -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -DHAVE_STRING_H -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS -D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE
 	COMPAT_OBJS = compat/msvc.o compat/winansi.o \
 		compat/win32/path-utils.o \
 		compat/win32/pthread.o compat/win32/syslog.o \
 		compat/win32/trace2_win32_process_info.o \
 		compat/win32/dirent.o
-	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
+	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DDETECT_MSYS_TTY -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
 	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
-	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj
+	# invalidcontinue.obj allows Git's source code to close the same file
+	# handle twice, or to access the osfhandle of an already-closed stdout
+	# See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235330.aspx
+	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj kernel32.lib ntdll.lib
 	PTHREAD_LIBS =
 	lib =
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_inc) $(sdk_includes) $(msvc_includes)
+ifndef DEBUG
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_rel_lib)
+else
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_dbg_lib)
+endif
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(sdk_libs) $(msvc_libs)
+
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DPROTECT_NTFS_DEFAULT=1
+	# Always give "-Zi" to the compiler and "-debug" to linker (even in
+	# release mode) to force a PDB to be generated (like RelWithDebInfo).
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -debug -Zf
+
+ifdef NO_SAFESEH
+	LDFLAGS += -SAFESEH:NO
+endif
+
 ifndef DEBUG
-	BASIC_CFLAGS += -GL -Os -MD
-	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -LTCG
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -GL -Gy -O2 -Oy- -MD -DNDEBUG
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -release -LTCG /OPT:REF /OPT:ICF /INCREMENTAL:NO /DEBUGTYPE:CV,FIXUP
 	AR += -LTCG
 else
-	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi -MDd
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -MDd -DDEBUG -D_DEBUG
 endif
 	X = .exe
 

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index d01e88c2f8..433838391f 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2437,6 +2437,10 @@ int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
 #ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef _DEBUG
+	_CrtSetReportMode(_CRT_ASSERT, _CRTDBG_MODE_DEBUG);
+#endif
+
 #ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
 	_CrtSetDbgFlag(_CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF);
 #endif

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2374f77a1a..ba0e52c4d1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -226,6 +226,11 @@
 *.user
 *.idb
 *.pdb
+*.ilk
+*.iobj
+*.ipdb
+*.dll
+.vs/
 /Debug/
 /Release/
 *.dSYM

diff --git a/compat/winansi.c b/compat/winansi.c
index f4f08237f9..11cd9b82cc 100644
--- a/compat/winansi.c
+++ b/compat/winansi.c
@@ -544,7 +544,20 @@ static HANDLE swap_osfhnd(int fd, HANDLE new_handle)
 #ifdef DETECT_MSYS_TTY
 
 #include <winternl.h>
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+
+typedef struct _OBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION
+{
+	UNICODE_STRING Name;
+	WCHAR NameBuffer[0];
+} OBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION, *POBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION;
+
+#define ObjectNameInformation 1
+
+#else
 #include <ntstatus.h>
+#endif
 
 static void detect_msys_tty(int fd)
 {

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 667285887a..d01e88c2f8 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2119,8 +2119,33 @@ int mingw_raise(int sig)
 			sigint_fn(SIGINT);
 		return 0;
 
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+	case SIGILL:
+	case SIGFPE:
+	case SIGSEGV:
+	case SIGTERM:
+	case SIGBREAK:
+	case SIGABRT:
+	case SIGABRT_COMPAT:
+		/*
+		 * The <signal.h> header in the MS C Runtime defines 8 signals
+		 * as being supported on the platform. Anything else causes an
+		 * "Invalid signal or error" (which in DEBUG builds causes the
+		 * Abort/Retry/Ignore dialog). We by-pass the CRT for things we
+		 * already know will fail.
+		 */
+		return raise(sig);
+	default:
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return -1;
+
+#else
+
 	default:
 		return raise(sig);
+
+#endif
+
 	}
 }
 

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8a7e235352..3cf8cc8ffd 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1240,7 +1240,7 @@ endif
 
 ifdef SANE_TOOL_PATH
 SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(SANE_TOOL_PATH))
-BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix $(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)|'
+BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix "$(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)"|'
 PATH := $(SANE_TOOL_PATH):${PATH}
 else
 BROKEN_PATH_FIX = '/^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$/d'

builtin/blame.c, cache-tree.c

diff --git a/builtin/blame.c b/builtin/blame.c
index 21cde57e71..50e3d4a265 100644
--- a/builtin/blame.c
+++ b/builtin/blame.c
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ static size_t blame_date_width;
 
 static struct string_list mailmap = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
 
-#ifndef DEBUG
-#define DEBUG 0
+#ifndef DEBUG_BLAME
+#define DEBUG_BLAME 0
 #endif
 
 static unsigned blame_move_score;
@@ -1062,7 +1062,7 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (blame_copy_score)
 		sb.copy_score = blame_copy_score;
 
-	sb.debug = DEBUG;
+	sb.debug = DEBUG_BLAME;
 	sb.on_sanity_fail = &sanity_check_on_fail;
 
 	sb.show_root = show_root;
diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index b13bfaf71e..706ffcf188 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 #include "object-store.h"
 #include "replace-object.h"
 
-#ifndef DEBUG
-#define DEBUG 0
+#ifndef DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
+#define DEBUG_CACHE_TREE 0
 #endif
 
 struct cache_tree *cache_tree(void)
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ static int do_invalidate_path(struct cache_tree *it, const char *path)
 	int namelen;
 	struct cache_tree_sub *down;
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree invalidate <%s>\n", path);
 #endif
 
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 		strbuf_addf(&buffer, "%o %.*s%c", mode, entlen, path + baselen, '\0');
 		strbuf_add(&buffer, oid->hash, the_hash_algo->rawsz);
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree update-one %o %.*s\n",
 			mode, entlen, path + baselen);
 #endif
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 
 	strbuf_release(&buffer);
 	it->entry_count = to_invalidate ? -1 : i - *skip_count;
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree update-one (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 		it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr,
 		oid_to_hex(&it->oid));
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ static void write_one(struct strbuf *buffer, struct cache_tree *it,
 	strbuf_add(buffer, path, pathlen);
 	strbuf_addf(buffer, "%c%d %d\n", 0, it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr);
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	if (0 <= it->entry_count)
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree <%.*s> (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 			pathlen, path, it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr,
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static struct cache_tree *read_one(const char **buffer, unsigned long *size_p)
 		size -= rawsz;
 	}
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	if (0 <= it->entry_count)
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree <%s> (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 			*buffer, it->entry_count, subtree_nr,

diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 210f1b01a8..a03e40e6e2 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -352,11 +352,13 @@ static inline int getrlimit(int resource, struct rlimit *rlp)
 #ifndef __MINGW64_VERSION_MAJOR
 #define off_t off64_t
 #define lseek _lseeki64
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
 struct timespec {
 	time_t tv_sec;
 	long tv_nsec;
 };
 #endif
+#endif
 
 struct mingw_stat {
     _dev_t st_dev;

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index 29a8ce8204..04b4750b87 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 #undef ERROR
 
+typedef int sigset_t;
+
 #include "compat/mingw.h"
 
 #endif

diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index b71688eeb7..9fc053cac0 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ ifneq (,$(wildcard ../THIS_IS_MSYSGIT))
 	INTERNAL_QSORT = YesPlease
 	HAVE_LIBCHARSET_H = YesPlease
 	NO_GETTEXT = YesPlease
-	COMPAT_CLFAGS += -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS
+	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS
 else
 	ifneq ($(shell expr "$(uname_R)" : '1\.'),2)
 		# MSys2

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 9fa72ad450..b08a1416d8 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 *.pl eof=lf diff=perl
 *.pm eol=lf diff=perl
 *.py eol=lf diff=python
+*.bat eol=crlf
 /Documentation/**/*.txt eol=lf
 /command-list.txt eol=lf
 /GIT-VERSION-GEN eol=lf

diff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh
index 77a224aafb..387e4e6b81 100755
--- a/t/t0001-init.sh
+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh
@@ -473,8 +473,8 @@ test_expect_success MINGW 'redirect std handles' '
 		GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT=output.txt \
 		GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR="2>&1" \
 		git rev-parse --git-dir --verify refs/invalid &&
-	printf ".git\nfatal: Needed a single revision\n" >expect &&
-	test_cmp expect output.txt
+	grep "^\\.git\$" output.txt &&
+	grep "Needed a single revision" output.txt
 '
 
 test_done

builtin/blame.c, cache-tree.c

diff --git a/builtin/blame.c b/builtin/blame.c
index 21cde57e71..50e3d4a265 100644
--- a/builtin/blame.c
+++ b/builtin/blame.c
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ static size_t blame_date_width;
 
 static struct string_list mailmap = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
 
-#ifndef DEBUG
-#define DEBUG 0
+#ifndef DEBUG_BLAME
+#define DEBUG_BLAME 0
 #endif
 
 static unsigned blame_move_score;
@@ -1062,7 +1062,7 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (blame_copy_score)
 		sb.copy_score = blame_copy_score;
 
-	sb.debug = DEBUG;
+	sb.debug = DEBUG_BLAME;
 	sb.on_sanity_fail = &sanity_check_on_fail;
 
 	sb.show_root = show_root;
diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index b13bfaf71e..706ffcf188 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 #include "object-store.h"
 #include "replace-object.h"
 
-#ifndef DEBUG
-#define DEBUG 0
+#ifndef DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
+#define DEBUG_CACHE_TREE 0
 #endif
 
 struct cache_tree *cache_tree(void)
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ static int do_invalidate_path(struct cache_tree *it, const char *path)
 	int namelen;
 	struct cache_tree_sub *down;
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree invalidate <%s>\n", path);
 #endif
 
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 		strbuf_addf(&buffer, "%o %.*s%c", mode, entlen, path + baselen, '\0');
 		strbuf_add(&buffer, oid->hash, the_hash_algo->rawsz);
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree update-one %o %.*s\n",
 			mode, entlen, path + baselen);
 #endif
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 
 	strbuf_release(&buffer);
 	it->entry_count = to_invalidate ? -1 : i - *skip_count;
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree update-one (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 		it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr,
 		oid_to_hex(&it->oid));
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ static void write_one(struct strbuf *buffer, struct cache_tree *it,
 	strbuf_add(buffer, path, pathlen);
 	strbuf_addf(buffer, "%c%d %d\n", 0, it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr);
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	if (0 <= it->entry_count)
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree <%.*s> (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 			pathlen, path, it->entry_count, it->subtree_nr,
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static struct cache_tree *read_one(const char **buffer, unsigned long *size_p)
 		size -= rawsz;
 	}
 
-#if DEBUG
+#if DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 	if (0 <= it->entry_count)
 		fprintf(stderr, "cache-tree <%s> (%d ent, %d subtree) %s\n",
 			*buffer, it->entry_count, subtree_nr,

diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 6ddece0350..473613a20d 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -414,6 +414,8 @@ else
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi -MDd
 endif
 	X = .exe
+
+compat/msvc.o: compat/msvc.c compat/mingw.c GIT-CFLAGS
 endif
 ifeq ($(uname_S),Interix)
 	NO_INITGROUPS = YesPlease

diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 210f1b01a8..a03e40e6e2 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -352,11 +352,13 @@ static inline int getrlimit(int resource, struct rlimit *rlp)
 #ifndef __MINGW64_VERSION_MAJOR
 #define off_t off64_t
 #define lseek _lseeki64
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
 struct timespec {
 	time_t tv_sec;
 	long tv_nsec;
 };
 #endif
+#endif
 
 struct mingw_stat {
     _dev_t st_dev;

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 0d8713e515..d14d33308d 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1553,7 +1553,10 @@ static int try_shell_exec(const char *cmd, char *const *argv)
 	if (prog) {
 		int exec_id;
 		int argc = 0;
-		const char **argv2;
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+		const
+#endif
+		char **argv2;
 		while (argv[argc]) argc++;
 		ALLOC_ARRAY(argv2, argc + 1);
 		argv2[0] = (char *)cmd;	/* full path to the script file */

diff --git a/compat/winansi.c b/compat/winansi.c
index f4f08237f9..11cd9b82cc 100644
--- a/compat/winansi.c
+++ b/compat/winansi.c
@@ -544,7 +544,20 @@ static HANDLE swap_osfhnd(int fd, HANDLE new_handle)
 #ifdef DETECT_MSYS_TTY
 
 #include <winternl.h>
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+
+typedef struct _OBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION
+{
+	UNICODE_STRING Name;
+	WCHAR NameBuffer[0];
+} OBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION, *POBJECT_NAME_INFORMATION;
+
+#define ObjectNameInformation 1
+
+#else
 #include <ntstatus.h>
+#endif
 
 static void detect_msys_tty(int fd)
 {

compat/mingw.c, config.mak.uname, git-compat-util.h

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index c063ae62be..667285887a 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2411,6 +2411,12 @@ int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
+	_CrtSetDbgFlag(_CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF);
+#endif
+#endif
+
 	maybe_redirect_std_handles();
 
 	/* determine size of argv and environ conversion buffer */
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index b8c52e49d2..3fde48c64d 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -448,6 +448,10 @@ else
 endif
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(sdk_libs) $(msvc_libs)
 
+ifneq ($(USE_MSVC_CRTDBG),)
+	# Optionally enable memory leak reporting.
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DUSE_MSVC_CRTDBG
+endif
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DPROTECT_NTFS_DEFAULT=1
 	# Always give "-Zi" to the compiler and "-debug" to linker (even in
 	# release mode) to force a PDB to be generated (like RelWithDebInfo).
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index cc0e7e9733..83be89de0a 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 #ifndef GIT_COMPAT_UTIL_H
 #define GIT_COMPAT_UTIL_H
 
+#ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
+/*
+ * For these to work they must appear very early in each
+ * file -- before most of the standard header files.
+ */
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <crtdbg.h>
+#endif
+
 #define _FILE_OFFSET_BITS 64
 
 

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8a7e235352..3cf8cc8ffd 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1240,7 +1240,7 @@ endif
 
 ifdef SANE_TOOL_PATH
 SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(SANE_TOOL_PATH))
-BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix $(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)|'
+BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix "$(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)"|'
 PATH := $(SANE_TOOL_PATH):${PATH}
 else
 BROKEN_PATH_FIX = '/^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$/d'

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 667285887a..d01e88c2f8 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2119,8 +2119,33 @@ int mingw_raise(int sig)
 			sigint_fn(SIGINT);
 		return 0;
 
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+	case SIGILL:
+	case SIGFPE:
+	case SIGSEGV:
+	case SIGTERM:
+	case SIGBREAK:
+	case SIGABRT:
+	case SIGABRT_COMPAT:
+		/*
+		 * The <signal.h> header in the MS C Runtime defines 8 signals
+		 * as being supported on the platform. Anything else causes an
+		 * "Invalid signal or error" (which in DEBUG builds causes the
+		 * Abort/Retry/Ignore dialog). We by-pass the CRT for things we
+		 * already know will fail.
+		 */
+		return raise(sig);
+	default:
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return -1;
+
+#else
+
 	default:
 		return raise(sig);
+
+#endif
+
 	}
 }
 

Makefile, compat/mingw.c, compat/vcbuild/.gitignore, compat/vcbuild/README, compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat, compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl, compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat, compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat, config.mak.uname

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3cf8cc8ffd..7777af7d0e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2873,6 +2873,33 @@ install: all
 	$(INSTALL) $(ALL_PROGRAMS) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 $(SCRIPT_LIB) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) $(install_bindir_programs) '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+ifdef MSVC
+	# We DO NOT install the individual foo.o.pdb files because they
+	# have already been rolled up into the exe's pdb file.
+	# We DO NOT have pdb files for the builtin commands (like git-status.exe)
+	# because it is just a copy/hardlink of git.exe, rather than a unique binary.
+	$(INSTALL) git.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-shell.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-upload-pack.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-credential-store.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-daemon.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-fast-import.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-backend.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-fetch.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-http-push.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-imap-send.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-remote-http.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-remote-testsvn.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-sh-i18n--envsubst.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) git-show-index.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(gitexec_instdir_SQ)'
+ifndef DEBUG
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_rel_bin)/*.dll '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_rel_bin)/*.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+else
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_dbg_bin)/*.dll '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+	$(INSTALL) $(vcpkg_dbg_bin)/*.pdb '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(bindir_SQ)'
+endif
+endif
 	$(MAKE) -C templates DESTDIR='$(DESTDIR_SQ)' install
 	$(INSTALL) -d -m 755 '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(mergetools_instdir_SQ)'
 	$(INSTALL) -m 644 mergetools/* '$(DESTDIR_SQ)$(mergetools_instdir_SQ)'
@@ -3085,6 +3112,19 @@ endif
 	$(RM) GIT-VERSION-FILE GIT-CFLAGS GIT-LDFLAGS GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS
 	$(RM) GIT-USER-AGENT GIT-PREFIX
 	$(RM) GIT-SCRIPT-DEFINES GIT-PERL-DEFINES GIT-PERL-HEADER GIT-PYTHON-VARS
+ifdef MSVC
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.o,%.o.pdb,$(OBJECTS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(OTHER_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.pdb,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.iobj,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) $(patsubst %.exe,%.ipdb,$(TEST_PROGRAMS))
+	$(RM) compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+endif
 
 .PHONY: all install profile-clean cocciclean clean strip
 .PHONY: shell_compatibility_test please_set_SHELL_PATH_to_a_more_modern_shell
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index d14d33308d..c063ae62be 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2388,6 +2388,12 @@ static void maybe_redirect_std_handles(void)
 				  GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING);
 }
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef _DEBUG
+#include <crtdbg.h>
+#endif
+#endif
+
 /*
  * We implement wmain() and compile with -municode, which would
  * normally ignore main(), but we call the latter from the former
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore b/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8f8b794ef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+/vcpkg/
+/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+/VCPKG-DEFS
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/README b/compat/vcbuild/README
index 60fd873fe8..b633e7db98 100644
--- a/compat/vcbuild/README
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/README
@@ -1,3 +1,42 @@
+The Steps to Build Git with VS2015 or VS2017 from the command line.
+
+1. Install the "vcpkg" open source package manager and build essential
+   third-party libraries.  The steps for this have been captured in a
+   set of convenience scripts.  These can be run from a stock Command
+   Prompt or from an SDK bash window:
+
+   $ cd <repo_root>
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
+
+   The vcpkg tools and all of the third-party sources will be installed
+   in this folder:
+      <repo_root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/
+
+   A file will be created with a set of Makefile macros pointing to a
+   unified "include", "lib", and "bin" directory (release and debug) for
+   all of the required packages.  This file will be included by the main
+   Makefile:
+      <repo_root>/compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+
+2. OPTIONALLY copy the third-party *.dll and *.pdb files into the repo
+   root to make it easier to run and debug git.exe without having to
+   manipulate your PATH.  This is especially true for debug sessions in
+   Visual Studio.
+
+   Use ONE of the following forms which should match how you want to
+   compile git.exe.
+
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_packages.bat debug
+   $ ./compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_packages.bat release
+
+3. Build git using MSVC from an SDK bash window using one of the
+   following commands:
+
+   $ make MSVC=1
+   $ make MSVC=1 DEBUG=1
+
+================================================================
+
 The Steps of Build Git with VS2008
 
 1. You need the build environment, which contains the Git dependencies
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat b/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..40194dd230
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM You can use either GCC (the default) or MSVC to build git
+REM using the GIT-SDK command line tools.
+REM        $ make
+REM        $ make MSVC=1
+REM
+REM GIT-SDK BASH windows inherit environment variables with all of
+REM the bin/lib/include paths for GCC.  It DOES NOT inherit values
+REM for the corresponding MSVC tools.
+REM
+REM During normal (non-git) Windows development, you launch one
+REM of the provided "developer command prompts" to set environment
+REM variables for the MSVC tools.
+REM
+REM Therefore, to allow MSVC command line builds of git from BASH
+REM and MAKE, we must blend these two different worlds.  This script
+REM attempts to do that.
+REM ================================================================
+REM This BAT file starts in a plain (non-developer) command prompt,
+REM searches for the "best" commmand prompt setup script, installs
+REM it into the current CMD process, and exports the various MSVC
+REM environment variables for use by MAKE.
+REM
+REM The output of this script should be written to a make "include
+REM file" and referenced by the top-level Makefile.
+REM
+REM See "config.mak.uname" (look for compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN).
+REM ================================================================
+REM The provided command prompts are custom to each VS release and
+REM filled with lots of internal knowledge (such as Registry settings);
+REM even their names vary by release, so it is not appropriate for us
+REM to look inside them.  Rather, just run them in a subordinate
+REM process and extract the settings we need.
+REM ================================================================
+REM
+REM Current (VS2017 and beyond)
+REM -------------------
+REM Visual Studio 2017 introduced a new installation layout and
+REM support for side-by-side installation of multiple versions of
+REM VS2017.  Furthermore, these can all coexist with installations
+REM of previous versions of VS (which have a completely different
+REM layout on disk).
+REM
+REM VS2017 Update 2 introduced a "vswhere.exe" command:
+REM https://github.com/Microsoft/vswhere
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/heaths/2017/02/25/vswhere-available/
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2017/03/06/finding-the-visual-c-compiler-tools-in-visual-studio-2017/
+REM
+REM VS2015
+REM ------
+REM Visual Studio 2015 uses the traditional VcVarsAll.
+REM
+REM Earlier Versions
+REM ----------------
+REM Currently unsupported.
+REM
+REM ================================================================
+REM Note: Throughout this script we use "dir <path> && <cmd>" rather
+REM than "if exist <path>" because of script problems with pathnames
+REM containing spaces.
+REM ================================================================
+
+REM Sanitize PATH to prevent git-sdk paths from confusing "wmic.exe"
+REM (called internally in some of the system BAT files).
+SET PATH=%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:current
+   SET vs_where=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe
+   dir "%vs_where%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_where
+   GOTO not_2017
+
+:have_vs_where
+   REM Try to use VsWhere to get the location of VsDevCmd.
+
+   REM Keep VsDevCmd from cd'ing away.
+   SET VSCMD_START_DIR=.
+
+   REM Get the root of the VS product installation.
+   FOR /F "usebackq tokens=*" %%i IN (`"%vs_where%" -latest -requires Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NativeDesktop -property installationPath`) DO @SET vs_ip=%%i
+
+   SET vs_devcmd=%vs_ip%\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat
+   dir "%vs_devcmd%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_devcmd
+   GOTO not_2017
+
+:have_vs_devcmd
+   REM Use VsDevCmd to setup the environment of this process.
+   REM Setup CL for building 64-bit apps using 64-bit tools.
+   @call "%vs_devcmd%" -no_logo -arch=x64 -host_arch=x64
+
+   SET tgt=%VSCMD_ARG_TGT_ARCH%
+
+   SET mn=%VCToolsInstallDir%
+   SET msvc_includes=-I"%mn%INCLUDE"
+   SET msvc_libs=-L"%mn%lib\%tgt%"
+   SET msvc_bin_dir=%mn%bin\Host%VSCMD_ARG_HOST_ARCH%\%tgt%
+
+   SET sdk_dir=%WindowsSdkDir%
+   SET sdk_ver=%WindowsSDKVersion%
+   SET si=%sdk_dir%Include\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_includes=-I"%si%ucrt" -I"%si%um" -I"%si%shared"
+   SET sl=%sdk_dir%lib\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_libs=-L"%sl%ucrt\%tgt%" -L"%sl%um\%tgt%"
+
+   SET vs_ver=%VisualStudioVersion%
+
+   GOTO print_vars
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:not_2017
+   REM See if VS2015 is installed.
+
+   SET vs_2015_bat=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat
+   dir "%vs_2015_bat%" >nul 2>nul && GOTO have_vs_2015
+   GOTO not_2015
+
+:have_vs_2015
+   REM Use VcVarsAll like the "x64 Native" command prompt.
+   REM Setup CL for building 64-bit apps using 64-bit tools.
+   @call "%vs_2015_bat%" amd64
+
+   REM Note that in VS2015 they use "x64" in some contexts and "amd64" in others.
+   SET mn=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\
+   SET msvc_includes=-I"%mn%INCLUDE"
+   SET msvc_libs=-L"%mn%lib\amd64"
+   SET msvc_bin_dir=%mn%bin\amd64
+
+   SET sdk_dir=%WindowsSdkDir%
+   SET sdk_ver=%WindowsSDKVersion%
+   SET si=%sdk_dir%Include\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_includes=-I"%si%ucrt" -I"%si%um" -I"%si%shared" -I"%si%winrt"
+   SET sl=%sdk_dir%lib\%sdk_ver%
+   SET sdk_libs=-L"%sl%ucrt\x64" -L"%sl%um\x64"
+
+   SET vs_ver=%VisualStudioVersion%
+
+   GOTO print_vars
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:not_2015
+   echo "ERROR: unsupported VS version (older than VS2015)" >&2
+   EXIT /B 1
+
+REM ================================================================
+
+:print_vars
+   REM Dump the essential vars to stdout to allow the main
+   REM Makefile to include it.  See config.mak.uname.
+   REM Include DOS-style and BASH-style path for bin dir.
+
+   echo msvc_bin_dir=%msvc_bin_dir%
+   SET X1=%msvc_bin_dir:C:=/C%
+   SET X2=%X1:\=/%
+   echo msvc_bin_dir_msys=%X2%
+
+   echo msvc_includes=%msvc_includes%
+   echo msvc_libs=%msvc_libs%
+
+   echo sdk_includes=%sdk_includes%
+   echo sdk_libs=%sdk_libs%
+
+   echo vs_ver=%vs_ver%
+
+   EXIT /B 0
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
index a87d0da512..c7b021bfac 100755
--- a/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
@@ -12,32 +12,62 @@
 use strict;
 my @args = ();
 my @cflags = ();
+my @lflags = ();
 my $is_linking = 0;
+my $is_debug = 0;
 while (@ARGV) {
 	my $arg = shift @ARGV;
-	if ("$arg" =~ /^-[DIMGO]/) {
+	if ("$arg" eq "-DDEBUG") {
+	    # Some vcpkg-based libraries have different names for release
+	    # and debug versions.  This hack assumes that -DDEBUG comes
+	    # before any "-l*" flags.
+	    $is_debug = 1;
+	}
+	if ("$arg" =~ /^-[DIMGOZ]/) {
 		push(@cflags, $arg);
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-o") {
 		my $file_out = shift @ARGV;
 		if ("$file_out" =~ /exe$/) {
 			$is_linking = 1;
+			# Create foo.exe and foo.pdb
 			push(@args, "-OUT:$file_out");
 		} else {
+			# Create foo.o and foo.o.pdb
 			push(@args, "-Fo$file_out");
+			push(@args, "-Fd$file_out.pdb");
 		}
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lz") {
+	    if ($is_debug) {
+		push(@args, "zlibd.lib");
+	    } else{
 		push(@args, "zlib.lib");
+	    }
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-liconv") {
-		push(@args, "iconv.lib");
+		push(@args, "libiconv.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lcrypto") {
 		push(@args, "libeay32.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lssl") {
 		push(@args, "ssleay32.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lcurl") {
-		push(@args, "libcurl.lib");
+		my $lib = "";
+		# Newer vcpkg definitions call this libcurl_imp.lib; Do we
+		# need to use that instead?
+		foreach my $flag (@lflags) {
+			if ($flag =~ /^-LIBPATH:(.*)/) {
+				foreach my $l ("libcurl_imp.lib", "libcurl.lib") {
+					if (-f "$1/$l") {
+						$lib = $l;
+						last;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		push(@args, $lib);
+	} elsif ("$arg" eq "-lexpat") {
+		push(@args, "expat.lib");
 	} elsif ("$arg" =~ /^-L/ && "$arg" ne "-LTCG") {
 		$arg =~ s/^-L/-LIBPATH:/;
-		push(@args, $arg);
+		push(@lflags, $arg);
 	} elsif ("$arg" =~ /^-R/) {
 		# eat
 	} else {
@@ -45,10 +75,11 @@
 	}
 }
 if ($is_linking) {
+	push(@args, @lflags);
 	unshift(@args, "link.exe");
 } else {
 	unshift(@args, "cl.exe");
 	push(@args, @cflags);
 }
-#printf("**** @args\n");
+printf(STDERR "**** @args\n\n\n") if (!defined($ENV{'QUIET_GEN'}));
 exit (system(@args) != 0);
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..13661c14f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_copy_dlls.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM This script is an optional step. It copies the *.dll and *.pdb
+REM files (created by vcpkg_install.bat) into the top-level directory
+REM of the repo so that you can type "./git.exe" and find them without
+REM having to fixup your PATH.
+REM
+REM NOTE: Because the names of some DLL files change between DEBUG and
+REM NOTE: RELEASE builds when built using "vcpkg.exe", you will need
+REM NOTE: to copy up the corresponding version.
+REM ================================================================
+
+	SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
+
+	@FOR /F "delims=" %%D IN ("%~dp0") DO @SET cwd=%%~fD
+	cd %cwd%
+
+	SET arch=x64-windows
+	SET inst=%cwd%vcpkg\installed\%arch%
+
+	IF [%1]==[release] (
+		echo Copying RELEASE mode DLLs to repo root...
+	) ELSE IF [%1]==[debug] (
+		SET inst=%inst%\debug
+		echo Copying DEBUG mode DLLs to repo root...
+	) ELSE (
+		echo ERROR: Invalid argument.
+		echo Usage: %~0 release
+		echo Usage: %~0 debug
+		EXIT /B 1
+	)
+
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.dll ..\..\
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.pdb ..\..\
+
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.dll ..\..\t\helper\
+	xcopy /e/s/v/y %inst%\bin\*.pdb ..\..\t\helper\
+
+	EXIT /B 0
diff --git a/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ebd0bad242
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+REM ================================================================
+REM This script installs the "vcpkg" source package manager and uses
+REM it to build the third-party libraries that git requires when it
+REM is built using MSVC.
+REM
+REM [1] Install VCPKG.
+REM     [a] Create <root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/
+REM     [b] Download "vcpkg".
+REM     [c] Compile using the currently installed version of VS.
+REM     [d] Create <root>/compat/vcbuild/vcpkg/vcpkg.exe
+REM
+REM [2] Install third-party libraries.
+REM     [a] Download each (which may also install CMAKE).
+REM     [b] Compile in RELEASE mode and install in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/{bin,lib}
+REM     [c] Compile in DEBUG mode and install in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/debug/{bin,lib}
+REM     [d] Install headers in:
+REM         vcpkg/installed/<arch>/include
+REM
+REM [3] Create a set of MAKE definitions for the top-level
+REM     Makefile to allow "make MSVC=1" to find the above
+REM     third-party libraries.
+REM     [a] Write vcpkg/VCPGK-DEFS
+REM
+REM https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/09/19/vcpkg-a-tool-to-acquire-and-build-c-open-source-libraries-on-windows/
+REM https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg
+REM https://vcpkg.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
+REM ================================================================
+
+	SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
+
+	@FOR /F "delims=" %%D IN ("%~dp0") DO @SET cwd=%%~fD
+	cd %cwd%
+
+	dir vcpkg\vcpkg.exe >nul 2>nul && GOTO :install_libraries
+
+	echo Fetching vcpkg in %cwd%vcpkg
+	git.exe clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg vcpkg
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	cd vcpkg
+	echo Building vcpkg
+	powershell -exec bypass scripts\bootstrap.ps1
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	echo Successfully installed %cwd%vcpkg\vcpkg.exe
+
+:install_libraries
+	SET arch=x64-windows
+
+	echo Installing third-party libraries...
+	FOR %%i IN (zlib expat libiconv openssl libssh2 curl) DO (
+	    cd %cwd%vcpkg
+	    IF NOT EXIST "packages\%%i_%arch%" CALL :sub__install_one %%i
+	    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+	)
+
+:install_defines
+	cd %cwd%
+	SET inst=%cwd%vcpkg\installed\%arch%
+
+	echo vcpkg_inc=-I"%inst%\include">VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_rel_lib=-L"%inst%\lib">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_rel_bin="%inst%\bin">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_dbg_lib=-L"%inst%\debug\lib">>VCPKG-DEFS
+	echo vcpkg_dbg_bin="%inst%\debug\bin">>VCPKG-DEFS
+
+	EXIT /B 0
+
+
+:sub__install_one
+	echo     Installing package %1...
+
+	.\vcpkg.exe install %1:%arch%
+	IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ( EXIT /B 1 )
+
+	echo     Finished %1
+	goto :EOF
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 473613a20d..b8c52e49d2 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Platform specific Makefile tweaks based on uname detection
 
+# Define NO_SAFESEH if you need MSVC/Visual Studio to ignore the lack of
+# Microsoft's Safe Exception Handling in libraries (such as zlib).
+# Typically required for VS2013+/32-bit compilation on Vista+ versions.
+
 uname_S := $(shell sh -c 'uname -s 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_M := $(shell sh -c 'uname -m 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_O := $(shell sh -c 'uname -o 2>/dev/null || echo not')
@@ -11,6 +15,19 @@ ifdef MSVC
 	# avoid the MingW and Cygwin configuration sections
 	uname_S := Windows
 	uname_O := Windows
+
+	# Generate and include makefile variables that point to the
+	# currently installed set of MSVC command line tools.
+compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN: compat/vcbuild/find_vs_env.bat
+	@"$<" | tr '\\' / >"$@"
+include compat/vcbuild/MSVC-DEFS-GEN
+
+	# See if vcpkg and the vcpkg-build versions of the third-party
+	# libraries that we use are installed.  We include the result
+	# to get $(vcpkg_*) variables defined for the Makefile.
+compat/vcbuild/VCPKG-DEFS: compat/vcbuild/vcpkg_install.bat
+	@"$<"
+include compat/vcbuild/VCPKG-DEFS
 endif
 
 # We choose to avoid "if .. else if .. else .. endif endif"
@@ -356,6 +373,19 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	GIT_VERSION := $(GIT_VERSION).MSVC
 	pathsep = ;
+	# Assume that this is built in Git for Windows' SDK
+	ifeq (MINGW32,$(MSYSTEM))
+		prefix = /mingw32
+	else
+		prefix = /mingw64
+	endif
+	# Prepend MSVC 64-bit tool-chain to PATH.
+	#
+	# A regular Git Bash *does not* have cl.exe in its $PATH. As there is a
+	# link.exe next to, and required by, cl.exe, we have to prepend this
+	# onto the existing $PATH.
+	#
+	SANE_TOOL_PATH ?= $(msvc_bin_dir_msys)
 	HAVE_ALLOCA_H = YesPlease
 	NO_PREAD = YesPlease
 	NEEDS_CRYPTO_WITH_SSL = YesPlease
@@ -368,11 +398,14 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_STRCASESTR = YesPlease
 	NO_STRLCPY = YesPlease
 	NO_MEMMEM = YesPlease
-	# NEEDS_LIBICONV = YesPlease
-	NO_ICONV = YesPlease
+	NEEDS_LIBICONV = YesPlease
 	NO_STRTOUMAX = YesPlease
 	NO_MKDTEMP = YesPlease
-	SNPRINTF_RETURNS_BOGUS = YesPlease
+	NO_INTTYPES_H = YesPlease
+	# VS2015 with UCRT claims that snprintf and friends are C99 compliant,
+	# so we don't need this:
+	#
+	#   SNPRINTF_RETURNS_BOGUS = YesPlease
 	NO_SVN_TESTS = YesPlease
 	RUNTIME_PREFIX = YesPlease
 	HAVE_WPGMPTR = YesWeDo
@@ -385,7 +418,6 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	NO_REGEX = YesPlease
 	NO_GETTEXT = YesPlease
 	NO_PYTHON = YesPlease
-	BLK_SHA1 = YesPlease
 	ETAGS_TARGET = ETAGS
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	NATIVE_CRLF = YesPlease
@@ -394,24 +426,44 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 	CC = compat/vcbuild/scripts/clink.pl
 	AR = compat/vcbuild/scripts/lib.pl
 	CFLAGS =
-	BASIC_CFLAGS = -nologo -I. -I../zlib -Icompat/vcbuild -Icompat/vcbuild/include -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -DHAVE_STRING_H -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS -D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE
+	BASIC_CFLAGS = -nologo -I. -Icompat/vcbuild/include -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -DHAVE_STRING_H -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS -D_CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE
 	COMPAT_OBJS = compat/msvc.o compat/winansi.o \
 		compat/win32/path-utils.o \
 		compat/win32/pthread.o compat/win32/syslog.o \
 		compat/win32/trace2_win32_process_info.o \
 		compat/win32/dirent.o
-	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
+	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DDETECT_MSYS_TTY -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
 	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
-	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj
+	# invalidcontinue.obj allows Git's source code to close the same file
+	# handle twice, or to access the osfhandle of an already-closed stdout
+	# See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235330.aspx
+	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj kernel32.lib ntdll.lib
 	PTHREAD_LIBS =
 	lib =
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_inc) $(sdk_includes) $(msvc_includes)
+ifndef DEBUG
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_rel_lib)
+else
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(vcpkg_dbg_lib)
+endif
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += $(sdk_libs) $(msvc_libs)
+
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DPROTECT_NTFS_DEFAULT=1
+	# Always give "-Zi" to the compiler and "-debug" to linker (even in
+	# release mode) to force a PDB to be generated (like RelWithDebInfo).
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -debug -Zf
+
+ifdef NO_SAFESEH
+	LDFLAGS += -SAFESEH:NO
+endif
+
 ifndef DEBUG
-	BASIC_CFLAGS += -GL -Os -MD
-	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -LTCG
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -GL -Gy -O2 -Oy- -MD -DNDEBUG
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -release -LTCG /OPT:REF /OPT:ICF /INCREMENTAL:NO /DEBUGTYPE:CV,FIXUP
 	AR += -LTCG
 else
-	BASIC_CFLAGS += -Zi -MDd
+	BASIC_CFLAGS += -MDd -DDEBUG -D_DEBUG
 endif
 	X = .exe
 

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index d7525cf61d..1d7a8c6145 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 #include <malloc.h>
 #include <io.h>
 
+#pragma warning(disable: 4018) /* signed/unsigned comparison */
+#pragma warning(disable: 4244) /* type conversion, possible loss of data */
+#pragma warning(disable: 4090) /* 'function' : different 'const' qualifiers (ALLOC_GROW etc.)*/
+
 /* porting function */
 #define inline __inline
 #define __inline__ __inline

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index d01e88c2f8..433838391f 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2437,6 +2437,10 @@ int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
 #ifdef _MSC_VER
+#ifdef _DEBUG
+	_CrtSetReportMode(_CRT_ASSERT, _CRTDBG_MODE_DEBUG);
+#endif
+
 #ifdef USE_MSVC_CRTDBG
 	_CrtSetDbgFlag(_CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF);
 #endif

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2374f77a1a..ba0e52c4d1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -226,6 +226,11 @@
 *.user
 *.idb
 *.pdb
+*.ilk
+*.iobj
+*.ipdb
+*.dll
+.vs/
 /Debug/
 /Release/
 *.dSYM

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index d336d80670..d7525cf61d 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 #undef ERROR
 
+#define ftello _ftelli64
+
 typedef int sigset_t;
 /* open for reading, writing, or both (not in fcntl.h) */
 #define O_ACCMODE     (_O_RDONLY | _O_WRONLY | _O_RDWR)

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index 04b4750b87..d336d80670 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #undef ERROR
 
 typedef int sigset_t;
+/* open for reading, writing, or both (not in fcntl.h) */
+#define O_ACCMODE     (_O_RDONLY | _O_WRONLY | _O_RDWR)
 
 #include "compat/mingw.h"
 

diff --git a/compat/obstack.h b/compat/obstack.h
index ced94d0118..ae36ed6a66 100644
--- a/compat/obstack.h
+++ b/compat/obstack.h
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ __extension__								\
 ( (h)->temp.tempint = (char *) (obj) - (char *) (h)->chunk,		\
   ((((h)->temp.tempint > 0						\
     && (h)->temp.tempint < (h)->chunk_limit - (char *) (h)->chunk))	\
-   ? (int) ((h)->next_free = (h)->object_base				\
+   ? (ptrdiff_t) ((h)->next_free = (h)->object_base				\
 	    = (h)->temp.tempint + (char *) (h)->chunk)			\
    : (((obstack_free) ((h), (h)->temp.tempint + (char *) (h)->chunk), 0), 0)))
 

diff --git a/compat/msvc.h b/compat/msvc.h
index 29a8ce8204..04b4750b87 100644
--- a/compat/msvc.h
+++ b/compat/msvc.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 #undef ERROR
 
+typedef int sigset_t;
+
 #include "compat/mingw.h"
 
 #endif

compat/mingw.c, compat/mingw.h, config.mak.uname

diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 9b6d2400e1..0d8713e515 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -2301,18 +2301,13 @@ static void setup_windows_environment(void)
 		setenv("TERM", "cygwin", 1);
 }
 
+#if !defined(_MSC_VER)
 /*
  * Disable MSVCRT command line wildcard expansion (__getmainargs called from
  * mingw startup code, see init.c in mingw runtime).
  */
 int _CRT_glob = 0;
-
-typedef struct {
-	int newmode;
-} _startupinfo;
-
-extern int __wgetmainargs(int *argc, wchar_t ***argv, wchar_t ***env, int glob,
-		_startupinfo *si);
+#endif
 
 static NORETURN void die_startup(void)
 {
@@ -2390,22 +2385,25 @@ static void maybe_redirect_std_handles(void)
 				  GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING);
 }
 
-void mingw_startup(void)
+/*
+ * We implement wmain() and compile with -municode, which would
+ * normally ignore main(), but we call the latter from the former
+ * so that we can handle non-ASCII command-line parameters
+ * appropriately.
+ *
+ * To be more compatible with the core git code, we convert
+ * argv into UTF8 and pass them directly to main().
+ */
+int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **wargv)
 {
-	int i, maxlen, argc;
-	char *buffer;
-	wchar_t **wenv, **wargv;
-	_startupinfo si;
+	int i, maxlen, exit_status;
+	char *buffer, **save;
+	const char **argv;
 
 	trace2_initialize_clock();
 
 	maybe_redirect_std_handles();
 
-	/* get wide char arguments and environment */
-	si.newmode = 0;
-	if (__wgetmainargs(&argc, &wargv, &wenv, _CRT_glob, &si) < 0)
-		die_startup();
-
 	/* determine size of argv and environ conversion buffer */
 	maxlen = wcslen(wargv[0]);
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
@@ -2415,9 +2413,16 @@ void mingw_startup(void)
 	maxlen = 3 * maxlen + 1;
 	buffer = malloc_startup(maxlen);
 
-	/* convert command line arguments and environment to UTF-8 */
+	/*
+	 * Create a UTF-8 version of w_argv. Also create a "save" copy
+	 * to remember all the string pointers because parse_options()
+	 * will remove claimed items from the argv that we pass down.
+	 */
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(argv, argc + 1);
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(save, argc + 1);
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
-		__argv[i] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, wargv[i], maxlen);
+		argv[i] = save[i] = wcstoutfdup_startup(buffer, wargv[i], maxlen);
+	argv[i] = save[i] = NULL;
 	free(buffer);
 
 	/* fix Windows specific environment settings */
@@ -2436,6 +2441,16 @@ void mingw_startup(void)
 
 	/* initialize Unicode console */
 	winansi_init();
+
+	/* invoke the real main() using our utf8 version of argv. */
+	exit_status = main(argc, argv);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
+		free(save[i]);
+	free(save);
+	free(argv);
+
+	return exit_status;
 }
 
 int uname(struct utsname *buf)
diff --git a/compat/mingw.h b/compat/mingw.h
index 593bdbffe6..210f1b01a8 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.h
+++ b/compat/mingw.h
@@ -562,18 +562,18 @@ int xwcstoutf(char *utf, const wchar_t *wcs, size_t utflen);
 extern CRITICAL_SECTION pinfo_cs;
 
 /*
- * A replacement of main() that adds win32 specific initialization.
+ * Git, like most portable C applications, implements a main() function. On
+ * Windows, this main() function would receive parameters encoded in the
+ * current locale, but Git for Windows would prefer UTF-8 encoded  parameters.
+ *
+ * To make that happen, we still declare main() here, and then declare and
+ * implement wmain() (which is the Unicode variant of main()) and compile with
+ * -municode. This wmain() function reencodes the parameters from UTF-16 to
+ * UTF-8 format, sets up a couple of other things as required on Windows, and
+ * then hands off to the main() function.
  */
-
-void mingw_startup(void);
-#define main(c,v) dummy_decl_mingw_main(void); \
-static int mingw_main(c,v); \
-int main(int argc, const char **argv) \
-{ \
-	mingw_startup(); \
-	return mingw_main(__argc, (void *)__argv); \
-} \
-static int mingw_main(c,v)
+int wmain(int argc, const wchar_t **w_argv);
+int main(int argc, const char **argv);
 
 /*
  * Used by Pthread API implementation for Windows
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 9fc053cac0..6ddece0350 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Windows)
 		compat/win32/trace2_win32_process_info.o \
 		compat/win32/dirent.o
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS = -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -DHAVE_STRING_H -Icompat -Icompat/regex -Icompat/win32 -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
-	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS = -IGNORE:4217 -IGNORE:4049 -NOLOGO -ENTRY:wmainCRTStartup -SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE
 	EXTLIBS = user32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib wininet.lib ws2_32.lib invalidcontinue.obj
 	PTHREAD_LIBS =
 	lib =
@@ -548,6 +548,7 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	ETAGS_TARGET = ETAGS
 	NO_POSIX_GOODIES = UnfortunatelyYes
 	DEFAULT_HELP_FORMAT = html
+	BASIC_LDFLAGS += -municode
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DNOGDI -Icompat -Icompat/win32
 	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\"
 	COMPAT_OBJS += compat/mingw.o compat/winansi.o \