diff --git a/Foundation/include/Poco/File.h b/Foundation/include/Poco/File.h
index 00ba0a32d..1dbfe6ceb 100644
--- a/Foundation/include/Poco/File.h
+++ b/Foundation/include/Poco/File.h
@@ -50,6 +50,19 @@ class Path;
 
 class Foundation_API File: private FileImpl
 	/// The File class provides methods for working with a file.
+	///
+	/// Regarding paths passed to the various methods, note that 
+	/// platform-specific limitations regarding maximum length
+	/// of the entire path and its components apply.
+	///
+	/// On Windows, if compiled with UTF-8 support (POCO_WIN32_UTF8) 
+	/// the implementation tries to work around the rather low
+	/// 260 characters MAX_PATH limit by adding the "\\?\" prefix if
+	/// a path is absolute and exceeds MAX_PATH characters in length.
+	/// Note that various limitations regarding usage of the "\\?\" 
+	/// prefix apply in that case, e.g. the path must
+	/// not contain relative components ("." and "..") and must not 
+	/// use the forward slash ("/") as directory separator.
 {
 public:
 	typedef FileSizeImpl FileSize;
diff --git a/Foundation/include/Poco/File_WIN32U.h b/Foundation/include/Poco/File_WIN32U.h
index fe0c7499f..6159ac278 100644
--- a/Foundation/include/Poco/File_WIN32U.h
+++ b/Foundation/include/Poco/File_WIN32U.h
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ protected:
 	FileSizeImpl usableSpaceImpl() const;
 	FileSizeImpl freeSpaceImpl() const;
 	static void handleLastErrorImpl(const std::string& path);
+	static void convertPath(const std::string& utf8Path, std::wstring& utf16Path);
 	
 private:
 	std::string  _path;
@@ -71,6 +72,8 @@ private:
 	friend class FileHandle;
 	friend class DirectoryIteratorImpl;
 	friend class WindowsDirectoryWatcherStrategy;
+	friend class FileStreamBuf;
+	friend class LogFileImpl;
 };
 
 
diff --git a/Foundation/include/Poco/File_WINCE.h b/Foundation/include/Poco/File_WINCE.h
index 9a8dd5dd1..0dfa6244b 100644
--- a/Foundation/include/Poco/File_WINCE.h
+++ b/Foundation/include/Poco/File_WINCE.h
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ protected:
 	FileSizeImpl usableSpaceImpl() const;
 	FileSizeImpl freeSpaceImpl() const;
 	static void handleLastErrorImpl(const std::string& path);
+	static void convertPath(const std::string& utf8Path, std::wstring& utf16Path);
 	
 private:
 	std::string  _path;
@@ -70,6 +71,8 @@ private:
 	
 	friend class FileHandle;
 	friend class DirectoryIteratorImpl;
+	friend class FileStreamBuf;
+	friend class LogFileImpl;
 };
 
 
diff --git a/Foundation/src/DirectoryIterator_WIN32U.cpp b/Foundation/src/DirectoryIterator_WIN32U.cpp
index acd1dc2a6..be3d35a43 100644
--- a/Foundation/src/DirectoryIterator_WIN32U.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/src/DirectoryIterator_WIN32U.cpp
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ DirectoryIteratorImpl::DirectoryIteratorImpl(const std::string& path): _fh(INVAL
 	std::string findPath = p.toString();
 	findPath.append("*");
 	std::wstring uFindPath;
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(findPath, uFindPath);
+	FileImpl::convertPath(findPath, uFindPath);
 
 	_fh = FindFirstFileW(uFindPath.c_str(), &_fd);
 	if (_fh == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
diff --git a/Foundation/src/DirectoryWatcher.cpp b/Foundation/src/DirectoryWatcher.cpp
index aaf4bccb2..590bc161a 100644
--- a/Foundation/src/DirectoryWatcher.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/src/DirectoryWatcher.cpp
@@ -29,9 +29,6 @@
 #include "Poco/Event.h"
 #include "Poco/Exception.h"
 #include "Poco/Buffer.h"
-#if defined(POCO_WIN32_UTF8)
-	#include "Poco/UnicodeConverter.h"
-#endif
 #if POCO_OS == POCO_OS_LINUX
 	#include <sys/inotify.h>
 	#include <sys/select.h>
@@ -200,7 +197,7 @@ public:
 		std::string path(owner().directory().path());
 #if defined(POCO_WIN32_UTF8)
 		std::wstring upath;
-		Poco::UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(path.c_str(), upath);
+		FileImpl::convertPath(path.c_str(), upath);
 		HANDLE hChange = FindFirstChangeNotificationW(upath.c_str(), FALSE, filter);
 #else
 		HANDLE hChange = FindFirstChangeNotificationA(path.c_str(), FALSE, filter);
diff --git a/Foundation/src/FileStream_WIN32.cpp b/Foundation/src/FileStream_WIN32.cpp
index e75f1ee4a..55d4b97e3 100644
--- a/Foundation/src/FileStream_WIN32.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/src/FileStream_WIN32.cpp
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ void FileStreamBuf::open(const std::string& path, std::ios::openmode mode)
 	
 #if defined (POCO_WIN32_UTF8)
 	std::wstring utf16Path;
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(path, utf16Path);
+	FileImpl::convertPath(path, utf16Path);
 	_handle = CreateFileW(utf16Path.c_str(), access, shareMode, NULL, creationDisp, flags, NULL);
 #else
 	_handle = CreateFileA(path.c_str(), access, shareMode, NULL, creationDisp, flags, NULL);
diff --git a/Foundation/src/File_WIN32U.cpp b/Foundation/src/File_WIN32U.cpp
index 370350fda..57dd82ee5 100644
--- a/Foundation/src/File_WIN32U.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/src/File_WIN32U.cpp
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ FileImpl::FileImpl(const std::string& path): _path(path)
 	{
 		_path.resize(n - 1);
 	}
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(_path, _upath);
+	convertPath(_path, _upath);
 }
 
 
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ void FileImpl::setPathImpl(const std::string& path)
 	{
 		_path.resize(n - 1);
 	}
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(_path, _upath);
+	convertPath(_path, _upath);
 }
 
 
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ void FileImpl::copyToImpl(const std::string& path) const
 	poco_assert (!_path.empty());
 
 	std::wstring upath;
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(path, upath);
+	convertPath(path, upath);
 	if (CopyFileW(_upath.c_str(), upath.c_str(), FALSE) == 0)
 		handleLastErrorImpl(_path);
 }
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ void FileImpl::renameToImpl(const std::string& path)
 	poco_assert (!_path.empty());
 
 	std::wstring upath;
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(path, upath);
+	convertPath(path, upath);
 	if (MoveFileExW(_upath.c_str(), upath.c_str(), MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING) == 0)
 		handleLastErrorImpl(_path);
 }
@@ -439,4 +439,22 @@ void FileImpl::handleLastErrorImpl(const std::string& path)
 }
 
 
+void FileImpl::convertPath(const std::string& utf8Path, std::wstring& utf16Path)
+{
+	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(utf8Path, utf16Path);
+	if (utf16Path.size() > MAX_PATH - 12) // Note: CreateDirectory has a limit of MAX_PATH - 12 (room for 8.3 file name)
+	{
+		if (utf16Path[0] == '\\' || utf16Path[1] == ':')
+		{
+			if (utf16Path.compare(0, 4, L"\\\\?\\", 4) != 0)
+			{
+				if (utf16Path[1] == '\\')
+					utf16Path.insert(0, L"\\\\?\\UNC\\", 8);
+				else
+					utf16Path.insert(0, L"\\\\?\\", 4);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 } // namespace Poco
diff --git a/Foundation/src/File_WINCE.cpp b/Foundation/src/File_WINCE.cpp
index 5f5ddc0b6..3dbc72992 100644
--- a/Foundation/src/File_WINCE.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/src/File_WINCE.cpp
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ FileImpl::FileImpl(const std::string& path): _path(path)
 	{
 		_path.resize(n - 1);
 	}
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(_path, _upath);
+	convertPath(_path, _upath);
 }
 
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ void FileImpl::setPathImpl(const std::string& path)
 	{
 		_path.resize(n - 1);
 	}
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(_path, _upath);
+	convertPath(_path, _upath);
 }
 
 
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ void FileImpl::copyToImpl(const std::string& path) const
 	poco_assert (!_path.empty());
 
 	std::wstring upath;
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(path, upath);
+	convertPath(path, upath);
 	if (CopyFileW(_upath.c_str(), upath.c_str(), FALSE) == 0)
 		handleLastErrorImpl(_path);
 }
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ void FileImpl::renameToImpl(const std::string& path)
 	poco_assert (!_path.empty());
 
 	std::wstring upath;
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(path, upath);
+	convertPath(path, upath);
 	if (MoveFileW(_upath.c_str(), upath.c_str()) == 0)
 		handleLastErrorImpl(_path);
 }
@@ -429,4 +429,9 @@ void FileImpl::handleLastErrorImpl(const std::string& path)
 }
 
 
+void FileImpl::convertPath(const std::string& utf8Path, std::wstring& utf16Path)
+{
+	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(utf8Path, utf16Path);
+}
+
 } // namespace Poco
diff --git a/Foundation/src/LogFile_WIN32U.cpp b/Foundation/src/LogFile_WIN32U.cpp
index 454dedc0e..972b7f240 100644
--- a/Foundation/src/LogFile_WIN32U.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/src/LogFile_WIN32U.cpp
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ const std::string& LogFileImpl::pathImpl() const
 void LogFileImpl::createFile()
 {
 	std::wstring upath;
-	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(_path, upath);
+	FileImpl::convertPath(_path, upath);
 	
 	_hFile = CreateFileW(upath.c_str(), GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL, OPEN_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
 	if (_hFile == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) throw OpenFileException(_path);
diff --git a/Foundation/src/Process_WIN32U.cpp b/Foundation/src/Process_WIN32U.cpp
index b8e7f1c0b..8176bac2f 100644
--- a/Foundation/src/Process_WIN32U.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/src/Process_WIN32U.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
 #include "Poco/NamedEvent.h"
 #include "Poco/UnicodeConverter.h"
 #include "Poco/Pipe.h"
+#include "Poco/File.h"
+#include "Poco/Path.h"
+#include "Poco/String.h"
 
 
 namespace Poco {
@@ -164,7 +167,7 @@ static std::string escapeArg(const std::string& arg)
 
 ProcessHandleImpl* ProcessImpl::launchImpl(const std::string& command, const ArgsImpl& args, const std::string& initialDirectory, Pipe* inPipe, Pipe* outPipe, Pipe* errPipe, const EnvImpl& env)
 {
-	std::string commandLine = command;
+	std::string commandLine = escapeArg(command);
 	for (ArgsImpl::const_iterator it = args.begin(); it != args.end(); ++it)
 	{
 		commandLine.append(" ");
@@ -174,6 +177,19 @@ ProcessHandleImpl* ProcessImpl::launchImpl(const std::string& command, const Arg
 	std::wstring ucommandLine;
 	UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(commandLine, ucommandLine);
 
+	const wchar_t* applicationName = 0;
+	std::wstring uapplicationName;
+	if (command.size() > MAX_PATH)
+	{
+		Poco::Path p(command);
+		if (p.isAbsolute())
+		{
+			UnicodeConverter::toUTF16(command, uapplicationName);
+			if (p.getExtension().empty()) uapplicationName += L".EXE";
+			applicationName = uapplicationName.c_str();
+		}
+	}
+
 	STARTUPINFOW startupInfo;
 	GetStartupInfoW(&startupInfo); // take defaults from current process
 	startupInfo.cb = sizeof(STARTUPINFOW);
@@ -253,7 +269,7 @@ ProcessHandleImpl* ProcessImpl::launchImpl(const std::string& command, const Arg
 	PROCESS_INFORMATION processInfo;
 	DWORD creationFlags = GetConsoleWindow() ? 0 : CREATE_NO_WINDOW;
 	BOOL rc = CreateProcessW(
-		NULL, // applicationName
+		applicationName,
 		const_cast<wchar_t*>(ucommandLine.c_str()),
 		NULL, // processAttributes
 		NULL, // threadAttributes
diff --git a/Foundation/testsuite/src/FileTest.cpp b/Foundation/testsuite/src/FileTest.cpp
index 9afa18344..db81db85a 100644
--- a/Foundation/testsuite/src/FileTest.cpp
+++ b/Foundation/testsuite/src/FileTest.cpp
@@ -524,6 +524,30 @@ void FileTest::testRename()
 }
 
 
+void FileTest::testLongPath()
+{
+#if defined(_WIN32) && defined(POCO_WIN32_UTF8) && !defined(_WIN32_WCE)
+	Poco::Path p("longpathtest");
+	p.makeAbsolute();
+	std::string longpath(p.toString());
+	while (longpath.size() < MAX_PATH*4)
+	{
+		longpath.append("\\");
+		longpath.append(64, 'x');
+	}
+
+	Poco::File d(longpath);
+	d.createDirectories();
+
+	assert (d.exists());
+	assert (d.isDirectory());
+
+	Poco::File f(p.toString());
+	f.remove(true);	
+#endif
+}
+
+
 void FileTest::setUp()
 {
 	File f("testfile.dat");
@@ -568,6 +592,7 @@ CppUnit::Test* FileTest::suite()
 	CppUnit_addTest(pSuite, FileTest, testCopyDirectory);
 	CppUnit_addTest(pSuite, FileTest, testRename);
 	CppUnit_addTest(pSuite, FileTest, testRootDir);
+	CppUnit_addTest(pSuite, FileTest, testLongPath);
 
 	return pSuite;
 }
diff --git a/Foundation/testsuite/src/FileTest.h b/Foundation/testsuite/src/FileTest.h
index 859bc137f..b475de439 100644
--- a/Foundation/testsuite/src/FileTest.h
+++ b/Foundation/testsuite/src/FileTest.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ public:
 	void testCopyDirectory();
 	void testRename();
 	void testRootDir();
+	void testLongPath();
 	
 	void setUp();
 	void tearDown();