diff --git a/src/lib/arch/win32/XArchWindows.cpp b/src/lib/arch/win32/XArchWindows.cpp
index b0720f477..4fa6bb20f 100644
--- a/src/lib/arch/win32/XArchWindows.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/arch/win32/XArchWindows.cpp
@@ -7,24 +7,30 @@
  */
 
 #include "arch/win32/XArchWindows.h"
-#include "base/String.h"
 
-std::string windowsErrorToString(DWORD error)
+#include <QString>
+
+QString windowsErrorToQString(DWORD error)
 {
-  char *cmsg;
-  if (FormatMessage(
-          FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS | FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM, 0, error,
-          MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT), (LPTSTR)&cmsg, 0, nullptr
-      ) == 0) {
-    cmsg = nullptr;
-    return deskflow::string::sprintf("Unknown error, code %d", error);
+  LPWSTR buffer = nullptr; // Using FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER
+  DWORD size = FormatMessage(
+      FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS, nullptr, error,
+      MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT), reinterpret_cast<LPWSTR>(&buffer), 0, nullptr
+  );
+
+  if (size == 0) {
+    return QString("Unknown Windows error: %1").arg(error);
   }
-  std::string smsg(cmsg);
-  LocalFree(cmsg);
-  return smsg;
+
+  QString message = QString::fromWCharArray(buffer, int(size));
+
+  // Gotcha: Was allocated by FormatMessage (FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER)
+  LocalFree(buffer);
+
+  return QString("[%1] %2").arg(error).arg(message.trimmed());
 }
 
-std::string winsockErrorToString(int error)
+QString winsockErrorToQString(int error)
 {
   // built-in windows function for looking up error message strings
   // may not look up network error messages correctly.  we'll have
@@ -197,8 +203,19 @@ std::string winsockErrorToString(int error)
 
   for (unsigned int i = 0; s_netErrorCodes[i].m_code != 0; ++i) {
     if (s_netErrorCodes[i].m_code == error) {
-      return s_netErrorCodes[i].m_msg;
+      return QString("[%1] %2").arg(error).arg(s_netErrorCodes[i].m_msg);
     }
   }
-  return "Unknown error";
+
+  return QString("Unknown Winsock error: %1").arg(error);
+}
+
+std::string windowsErrorToString(DWORD error)
+{
+  return windowsErrorToQString(error).toStdString();
+}
+
+std::string winsockErrorToString(int error)
+{
+  return winsockErrorToQString(error).toStdString();
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/arch/win32/XArchWindows.h b/src/lib/arch/win32/XArchWindows.h
index 54933bd7e..00e3e1ab9 100644
--- a/src/lib/arch/win32/XArchWindows.h
+++ b/src/lib/arch/win32/XArchWindows.h
@@ -8,10 +8,13 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include <QString>
 #include <string>
 
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #include <Windows.h>
 
+QString winsockErrorToQString(int error);
+QString windowsErrorToQString(DWORD error);
 std::string winsockErrorToString(int error);
 std::string windowsErrorToString(DWORD error);