diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wgfx.cpp b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wgfx.cpp
index b4499e1511..67156f706d 100644
--- a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wgfx.cpp
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wgfx.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 #include "wdll_ver.h"
 #include "win.h"
+#include "wmi.h"
 
 #if MSC_VERSION
 #pragma comment(lib, "advapi32.lib")	// registry
@@ -63,57 +64,12 @@ LibError gfx_get_monitor_size(int& width_mm, int& height_mm)
 
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-// EnumDisplayDevices is not available on Win95 or NT.
-// try to import it manually here; return -1 if not available.
-static BOOL (WINAPI *pEnumDisplayDevicesA)(LPCSTR, DWORD, LPDISPLAY_DEVICEA, DWORD);
-static LibError import_EnumDisplayDevices()
-{
-	if(!pEnumDisplayDevicesA)
-	{
-		static HMODULE hUser32Dll = LoadLibrary("user32.dll");
-		*(void**)&pEnumDisplayDevicesA = GetProcAddress(hUser32Dll, "EnumDisplayDevicesA");
-
-		// do not free the DLL reference! if this happens to be the first
-		// use of user32 (possible if it's delay-loaded or otherwise unused),
-		// it would actually be unloaded. that apparently breaks the
-		// Windows cursor.
-		// unfortunately there's no way to get at the reference count,
-		// so this resource leak is unavoidable.
-	}
-
-	return pEnumDisplayDevicesA? INFO::OK : ERR::FAIL;
-}
-
-
 static LibError win_get_gfx_card()
 {
-	// make sure EnumDisplayDevices is available (as pEnumDisplayDevicesA)
-	if(import_EnumDisplayDevices() >= 0)
-	{
-		// loop through all display adapters and put the primary device's
-		// identifier in gfx_card.
-		// (we don't bother returning a list of all of them because it's
-		// likely to be redundant, e.g. "Radeon" and "Radeon Secondary";
-		// we're only interested in the 'main' card anyway)
-		DISPLAY_DEVICEA dd = { sizeof(DISPLAY_DEVICEA) };
-		for(DWORD dev_num = 0; ; dev_num++)
-		{
-			if(!pEnumDisplayDevicesA(0, dev_num, &dd, 0))
-				break;
-
-			// ignore mirror pseudo-devices (installed e.g. by NetMeeting)
-			if(dd.StateFlags & DISPLAY_DEVICE_MIRRORING_DRIVER)
-				continue;
-
-			if(dd.StateFlags & DISPLAY_DEVICE_PRIMARY_DEVICE)
-			{
-				strcpy_s(gfx_card, ARRAY_SIZE(gfx_card), (const char*)dd.DeviceString);
-				return INFO::OK;
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	WARN_RETURN(ERR::FAIL);
+	WmiMap wmiMap;
+	RETURN_ERR(wmi_GetClass("Win32_VideoController", wmiMap));
+	sprintf_s(gfx_card, GFX_CARD_LEN, "%ls", wmiMap[L"Caption"].bstrVal);
+	return INFO::OK;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wmi.cpp b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wmi.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..db72804caf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wmi.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+/**
+ * =========================================================================
+ * File        : wmi.cpp
+ * Project     : 0 A.D.
+ * Description : wrapper for Windows Management Instrumentation
+ * =========================================================================
+ */
+
+// license: GPL; see lib/license.txt
+
+#include "precompiled.h"
+#include "wmi.h"
+
+#include <wbemidl.h>
+
+#include "winit.h"
+
+#pragma comment(lib, "wbemuuid.lib")
+
+WINIT_REGISTER_EARLY_INIT(wmi_Init);
+WINIT_REGISTER_EARLY_SHUTDOWN(wmi_Shutdown);
+
+
+static IWbemLocator* pLoc;
+static IWbemServices* pSvc;
+
+static LibError wmi_Init()
+{
+	HRESULT hr;
+
+	// initializing with COINIT_MULTITHREADED causes the (unchanged) value of
+	// pSvc to be invalid by the time wmi_Shutdown is reached. the cause is
+	// unclear (maybe another DLL already doing CoUninitialize?), but using
+	// single-threaded apartment mode (the default) avoids it.
+	hr = CoInitialize(0);
+	if(FAILED(hr))
+		WARN_RETURN(ERR::_1);
+
+	hr = CoInitializeSecurity(0, -1, 0, 0, RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_DEFAULT, RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_IMPERSONATE, 0, EOAC_NONE, 0);
+	if(FAILED(hr))
+		WARN_RETURN(ERR::_2);
+
+	hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_WbemLocator, 0, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, IID_IWbemLocator, (void**)&pLoc);
+	if(FAILED(hr))
+		WARN_RETURN(ERR::_3);
+
+	hr = pLoc->ConnectServer(_bstr_t(L"ROOT\\CIMV2"), 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, &pSvc);
+	if(FAILED(hr))
+		WARN_RETURN(ERR::_4);
+
+	hr = CoSetProxyBlanket(pSvc, RPC_C_AUTHN_WINNT, RPC_C_AUTHZ_NONE, 0, RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_CALL, RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_IMPERSONATE, 0, EOAC_NONE);
+	if(FAILED(hr))
+		WARN_RETURN(ERR::_5);
+
+	return INFO::OK;
+}
+
+
+static LibError wmi_Shutdown()
+{
+	pSvc->Release();
+	pLoc->Release();
+	CoUninitialize();
+
+	return INFO::OK;
+}
+
+
+LibError wmi_GetClass(const char* className, WmiMap& wmiMap)
+{
+	HRESULT hr;
+
+	IEnumWbemClassObject* pEnum = 0;
+	char query[200];
+	sprintf_s(query, ARRAY_SIZE(query), "SELECT * FROM %s", className);
+	hr = pSvc->ExecQuery(L"WQL", _bstr_t(query), WBEM_FLAG_FORWARD_ONLY|WBEM_FLAG_RETURN_IMMEDIATELY, 0, &pEnum);
+	if(FAILED(hr))
+		WARN_RETURN(ERR::FAIL);
+	debug_assert(pEnum);
+
+	for(;;)
+	{
+		IWbemClassObject* pObj = 0;
+		ULONG numReturned = 0;
+		hr = pEnum->Next(WBEM_INFINITE, 1, &pObj, &numReturned);
+		if(FAILED(hr))
+			WARN_RETURN(ERR::FAIL);
+		if(numReturned == 0)
+			break;
+		debug_assert(pEnum);
+
+		pObj->BeginEnumeration(WBEM_FLAG_NONSYSTEM_ONLY);
+		for(;;)
+		{
+			BSTR name;
+			VARIANT value;
+			VariantInit(&value);
+			if(pObj->Next(0, &name, &value, 0, 0) != WBEM_S_NO_ERROR)
+			{
+				SysFreeString(name);
+				break;
+			}
+			wmiMap[name] = value;
+			SysFreeString(name);
+		}
+		pObj->Release();
+	}
+	pEnum->Release();
+
+	return INFO::OK;
+}
diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wmi.h b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wmi.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..21f05e3d06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wmi.h
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/**
+ * =========================================================================
+ * File        : wmi.h
+ * Project     : 0 A.D.
+ * Description : wrapper for Windows Management Instrumentation
+ * =========================================================================
+ */
+
+// license: GPL; see lib/license.txt
+
+#ifndef INCLUDED_WMI
+#define INCLUDED_WMI
+
+// note: we expose the VARIANT value as returned by WMI. this allows other
+// modules to use the values they want directly, rather than forcing
+// everything to be converted to/parsed from strings. it does drag in
+// OLE headers, but this module is entirely Windows-specific anyway.
+#define _WIN32_DCOM
+#include "win.h"
+#include <comdef.h>	// VARIANT
+typedef std::map<std::wstring, VARIANT> WmiMap;
+
+/**
+ * return a map of name/value pairs of the WMI class members.
+ * @return LibError
+ **/
+extern LibError wmi_GetClass(const char* className, WmiMap& wmiMap);
+
+#endif	// #ifndef INCLUDED_WMI
diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wposix/wutsname.cpp b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wposix/wutsname.cpp
index 18a1422dab..6f8bc00876 100644
--- a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wposix/wutsname.cpp
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wposix/wutsname.cpp
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 #include "precompiled.h"
 #include "wutsname.h"
 
+#include "../wutil.h"
+
 #include "wposix_internal.h"
 
+
 int uname(struct utsname* un)
 {
 	static OSVERSIONINFO vi;
@@ -10,41 +13,16 @@ int uname(struct utsname* un)
 	GetVersionEx(&vi);
 
 	// OS implementation name
-	const char* family = "??";
-	int ver = (vi.dwMajorVersion << 8) | vi.dwMinorVersion;
-	if(vi.dwPlatformId == VER_PLATFORM_WIN32_WINDOWS)
-		family = (ver == 0x045a)? "ME" : "9x";
-	if(vi.dwPlatformId == VER_PLATFORM_WIN32_NT)
-	{
-		if(ver == 0x0500)
-			family = "2k";
-		else if(ver == 0x0501)
-			family = "XP";
-		else
-			family = "NT";
-	}
-	sprintf(un->sysname, "Win%s", family);
+	strcpy_s(un->sysname, ARRAY_SIZE(un->sysname), wutil_WindowsFamily());
 
 	// release info
 	const char* vs = vi.szCSDVersion;
 	int sp;
 	if(sscanf(vs, "Service Pack %d", &sp) == 1)
 		sprintf(un->release, "SP %d", sp);
-	else
-	{
-		const char* release = "";
-		if(vi.dwPlatformId == VER_PLATFORM_WIN32_WINDOWS)
-		{
-			if(!strcmp(vs, " C"))
-				release = "OSR2";
-			else if(!strcmp(vs, " A"))
-				release = "SE";
-		}
-		strcpy(un->release, release);	// safe
-	}
 
 	// version
-	sprintf(un->version, "%lu.%02lu.%lu", vi.dwMajorVersion, vi.dwMinorVersion, vi.dwBuildNumber & 0xFFFF);
+	sprintf(un->version, "%s.%lu", wutil_WindowsVersionString(), vi.dwBuildNumber & 0xFFFF);
 
 	// node name
 	DWORD buf_size = sizeof(un->nodename);
@@ -60,9 +38,9 @@ int uname(struct utsname* un)
 	static SYSTEM_INFO si;
 	GetSystemInfo(&si);
 	if(si.wProcessorArchitecture == PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64)
-		strcpy(un->machine, "AMD64");	// safe
+		strcpy_s(un->machine, ARRAY_SIZE(un->machine), "AMD64");
 	else
-		strcpy(un->machine, "IA-32");	// safe
+		strcpy_s(un->machine, ARRAY_SIZE(un->machine), "IA-32");
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wsnd.cpp b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wsnd.cpp
index 6a58c7f166..2cacba01fc 100644
--- a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wsnd.cpp
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wsnd.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "wdll_ver.h"
 #include "win.h"
 #include "wutil.h"
+#include "wmi.h"
 
 
 // indicate if this directory entry is an OpenAL DLL.
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ static LibError add_oal_dlls_in_dir(const char* dir, StringSet* dlls)
 // retrieved as well. the only way I know of is to enumerate all DS devices.
 //
 // unfortunately this fails with Vista's DS emulation - it returns some
-// GUID crap as the module name. to avoid crashing when attempting to get
+// GUID crap as the module name. to avoidc crashing when attempting to get
 // the version info for that bogus driver path, we'll skip this code there.
 // (delay-loading dsound.dll eliminates any overhead)
 
@@ -138,6 +139,10 @@ static const char* GetDirectSoundDriverPath()
 
 LibError win_get_snd_info()
 {
+	WmiMap wmiMap;
+	if(wmi_GetClass("Win32_SoundDevice", wmiMap) == INFO::OK)
+		sprintf_s(snd_card, SND_CARD_LEN, "%ls", wmiMap[L"ProductName"].bstrVal);
+
 	// find all DLLs related to OpenAL, retrieve their versions,
 	// and store in snd_drv_ver string.
 	wdll_ver_list_init(snd_drv_ver, SND_DRV_VER_LEN);
diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wutil.cpp b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wutil.cpp
index 88923b67fe..4f8f073cf3 100644
--- a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wutil.cpp
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wutil.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 WINIT_REGISTER_EARLY_INIT(wutil_Init);
 WINIT_REGISTER_LATE_SHUTDOWN(wutil_Shutdown);
 
+
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // safe allocator
 
@@ -253,6 +254,26 @@ static void DetectWindowsVersion()
 		debug_assert(0);
 }
 
+
+const char* wutil_WindowsFamily()
+{
+	debug_assert(windowsVersion != 0);
+	switch(windowsVersion)
+	{
+	case WUTIL_VERSION_2K:
+		return "Win2k";
+	case WUTIL_VERSION_XP:
+		return "WinXP";
+	case WUTIL_VERSION_XP64:
+		return "WinXP64";
+	case WUTIL_VERSION_VISTA:
+		return "Vista";
+	default:
+		return "Windows";
+	}
+}
+
+
 const char* wutil_WindowsVersionString()
 {
 	debug_assert(windowsVersionString[0] != '\0');
diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wutil.h b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wutil.h
index 33e53571b1..8d6b2388d8 100644
--- a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wutil.h
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wutil.h
@@ -101,9 +101,16 @@ extern char win_exe_dir[MAX_PATH+1];
 extern const char* wutil_WindowsVersionString();
 
 // (same format as WINVER)
+const uint WUTIL_VERSION_2K    = 0x0500;
 const uint WUTIL_VERSION_XP    = 0x0501;
+const uint WUTIL_VERSION_XP64  = 0x0502;
 const uint WUTIL_VERSION_VISTA = 0x0600;
 
+/**
+ * @return short textual representation of the appropriate WUTIL_VERSION
+ **/
+extern const char* wutil_WindowsFamily();
+
 extern uint wutil_WindowsVersion();
 
 
diff --git a/source/ps/Util.cpp b/source/ps/Util.cpp
index e30a25365f..ad83cd47e6 100644
--- a/source/ps/Util.cpp
+++ b/source/ps/Util.cpp
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ void WriteSystemInfo()
 	fprintf(f, "Network Name   : %s", hostname);
 
 	{
+		// ignore exception here - see https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=114032
 		hostent* host = gethostbyname(hostname);
 		if(!host)
 			goto no_ip;