diff --git a/.github/workflows/05-windows-build.yml b/.github/workflows/05-windows-build.yml
index 7d69f78..ca0be0c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/05-windows-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/05-windows-build.yml
@@ -4,20 +4,21 @@ on:
   workflow_call:
   workflow_dispatch:
 
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
 jobs:
   # Windows build and test matrix
   build-and-test-windows:
     name: Build & Test (${{ matrix.platform }})
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.platform }}
 
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         include:
-          - os: windows-2022
-            platform: windows-2022-x64
-          - os: windows-2025
-            platform: windows-2025-x64
+          - platform: windows-2022
+          - platform: windows-2025
 
     steps:
       - name: Show env info
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_wheel_on_windows.yml b/.github/workflows/build_wheel_on_windows.yml
index f156a3d..3cbaf31 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_wheel_on_windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_wheel_on_windows.yml
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ jobs:
           $PSNativeCommandUseErrorActionPreference = $false
           $found = $false
           for ($i = 1; $i -le 30; $i++) {
-            python -m pip install -f @indexArgs --dry-run "zvec==$version" 1>$null 2>$null
+            python -m pip install --force-reinstall @indexArgs --dry-run "zvec==$version" 1>$null 2>$null
             if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
               Write-Host "Version $version is available."
               $found = $true
@@ -225,5 +225,5 @@ jobs:
           python -m venv test_env
           $venvPython = "test_env/Scripts/python.exe"
           & $venvPython -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          & $venvPython -m pip install @indexArgs "zvec==$version"
+          & $venvPython -m pip install --force-reinstall @indexArgs "zvec==$version"
           & $venvPython -c "import zvec; print('Import OK:', zvec.__version__)"
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 55e3159..ad9df29 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ set(CC_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 if(MSVC)
     set(INTTYPES_FORMAT VC7)
-    add_compile_options(/FS) # handle .pdb
+    add_compile_options(/FS) # handle .pdb concurrency
     add_compile_options(/EHsc) # def c++ exception behavior
-    add_compile_options(/Zc:preprocessor)
+    add_compile_options(/Zc:preprocessor /Zc:__cplusplus)
     add_compile_options(/we4716) # -Werror=return-type
 
     ###### reduce output length to make vibe coding work better :) should be removed or solved later
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ endif()
 
 include_directories(${PROJECT_ROOT_DIR}/src/include)
 include_directories(${PROJECT_ROOT_DIR}/src)
-include_directories(${PROJECT_ROOT_DIR})
 
 option(BUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS "Build Python bindings using pybind11" OFF)
 message(STATUS "BUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS:${BUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS}")
@@ -130,14 +129,4 @@ if(BUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS)
 
     message(STATUS "Zvec install path: ${ZVEC_PY_INSTALL_DIR}")
     install(TARGETS _zvec LIBRARY DESTINATION ${ZVEC_PY_INSTALL_DIR})
-
-    if(MSVC)
-        install(FILES
-            $<TARGET_FILE:glog>
-            $<TARGET_FILE:gflags>
-            $<TARGET_FILE:roaring>
-            $<TARGET_FILE:libprotobuf>
-            DESTINATION ${ZVEC_PY_INSTALL_DIR}
-        )
-    endif()
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/bazel.cmake b/cmake/bazel.cmake
index 2910cc1..925df57 100644
--- a/cmake/bazel.cmake
+++ b/cmake/bazel.cmake
@@ -392,7 +392,14 @@ if(NOT MSVC)
     )
   unset(_COMPILER_FLAGS)
 else()
-  # Replace the default compiling flags
+  option(ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT "Use static CRT (/MT) instead of dynamic CRT (/MD), default=ON" ON)
+
+  if(ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT)
+    set(CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "MultiThreaded$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>" CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
+  else()
+    set(CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "MultiThreadedDLL$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>" CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
+  endif()
+
   set(
       _COMPILER_FLAGS
       CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS
@@ -406,14 +413,21 @@ else()
       CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELWITHDEBINFO
       CMAKE_C_FLAGS_MINSIZEREL
     )
-  foreach(COMPILER_FLAG ${_COMPILER_FLAGS})
-    string(REPLACE "/MT" "/MD" ${COMPILER_FLAG} "${${COMPILER_FLAG}}")
-    string(REGEX REPLACE "/W[0-9]" "" ${COMPILER_FLAG} "${${COMPILER_FLAG}}")
-  endforeach()
+  if(ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT)
+    foreach(COMPILER_FLAG ${_COMPILER_FLAGS})
+      string(REPLACE "/MD" "/MT" ${COMPILER_FLAG} "${${COMPILER_FLAG}}")
+      string(REGEX REPLACE "/W[0-9]" "" ${COMPILER_FLAG} "${${COMPILER_FLAG}}")
+    endforeach()
+  else()
+    foreach(COMPILER_FLAG ${_COMPILER_FLAGS})
+      string(REPLACE "/MT" "/MD" ${COMPILER_FLAG} "${${COMPILER_FLAG}}")
+      string(REGEX REPLACE "/W[0-9]" "" ${COMPILER_FLAG} "${${COMPILER_FLAG}}")
+    endforeach()
+  endif()
   unset(_COMPILER_FLAGS)
+
   add_definitions(-D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS)
-  # Build shared library as default
-  set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ON)
+  set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OFF)
 endif()
 
 set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_ASAN ${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG})
diff --git a/cmake/option.cmake b/cmake/option.cmake
index e399ebc..a4560f7 100644
--- a/cmake/option.cmake
+++ b/cmake/option.cmake
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ else()
     set(HOST_ARCH unknown)
     message(WARNING "unknown host arch: ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR}")
   endif()
-  message(STATUS "host arch: ${HOST_ARCH}")
+  #  message(STATUS "host arch: ${HOST_ARCH}")
 
   if (HOST_ARCH MATCHES "^(arm|arm64)$")
     _setup_armv8_march()
diff --git a/examples/c++/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/c++/CMakeLists.txt
index 13b8d7c..3c8a15e 100644
--- a/examples/c++/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/c++/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.26)
 cmake_policy(SET CMP0077 NEW)
 project(zvec-example-c++)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
@@ -20,14 +20,31 @@ set(ZVEC_DEPENDENCY_LIB_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/../../../${HOST_BUILD_DIR}/exter
 include_directories(${ZVEC_INCLUDE_DIR})
 link_directories(${ZVEC_LIB_DIR} ${ZVEC_DEPENDENCY_LIB_DIR})
 
+# Support multi-config builds (libs in Release/ or Debug/ subdirectories)
+if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
+    link_directories(
+            ${ZVEC_LIB_DIR}/${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
+            ${ZVEC_DEPENDENCY_LIB_DIR}/${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
+    )
+endif ()
+set(CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "MultiThreaded$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>")
+
 # --- Determine debug/release library names ---
 if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Debug")
     set(GLOG_LIB glogd)
-    set(GFLAGS_LIB gflags_nothreads_debug)
+    if (WIN32)
+        set(GFLAGS_LIB gflags_nothreads_static_debug)
+    else ()
+        set(GFLAGS_LIB gflags_nothreads_debug)
+    endif ()
     set(PROTOBUF_LIB protobufd)
 else()
     set(GLOG_LIB glog)
-    set(GFLAGS_LIB gflags_nothreads)
+    if (WIN32)
+        set(GFLAGS_LIB gflags_nothreads_static)
+    else ()
+        set(GFLAGS_LIB gflags_nothreads)
+    endif ()
     set(PROTOBUF_LIB protobuf)
 endif()
 
@@ -48,7 +65,6 @@ if (NOT WIN32)
             ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS}
     )
 
-
     set(zvec_db_deps
             roaring
             rocksdb
diff --git a/examples/c++/core/main.cc b/examples/c++/core/main.cc
index ac941f1..2aaa3f7 100644
--- a/examples/c++/core/main.cc
+++ b/examples/c++/core/main.cc
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include <cstdlib>
+#include <filesystem>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <zvec/core/interface/index.h>
 #include <zvec/core/interface/index_factory.h>
@@ -46,9 +47,7 @@ Index::Pointer create_index(const BaseIndexParam::Pointer &param,
 }
 
 int main() {
-  char cmd_buf[100];
-  snprintf(cmd_buf, 100, "rm -f %s", index_name.c_str());
-  system(cmd_buf);
+  std::filesystem::remove(index_name);
 
   auto param = HNSWIndexParamBuilder()
                    .WithMetricType(MetricType::kInnerProduct)
diff --git a/examples/c++/db/main.cc b/examples/c++/db/main.cc
index c3ed16b..3cb5bb6 100644
--- a/examples/c++/db/main.cc
+++ b/examples/c++/db/main.cc
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include <cstdlib>
+#include <filesystem>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 #include <zvec/db/collection.h>
@@ -188,8 +189,7 @@ CollectionSchema::Ptr create_schema() {
 
 int main() {
   std::string path = "./demo";
-  std::string rm_cmd = "rm -rf " + path;
-  system(rm_cmd.c_str());
+  std::filesystem::remove_all(path);
 
   auto schema = create_schema();
   CollectionOptions options{false, true};
diff --git a/src/binding/c/CMakeLists.txt b/src/binding/c/CMakeLists.txt
index f800b56..7ca8604 100644
--- a/src/binding/c/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/binding/c/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -106,22 +106,21 @@ endif()
 # This creates a truly self-contained library with zero external dependencies
 # Users only need to link libzvec_c_api.so without installing any dependencies
 if(MSVC)
-    # Windows MSVC: Use /WHOLEARCHIVE flag for static libraries only
-    # Note: roaring might be a DLL on Windows, so we don't apply WHOLEARCHIVE to it
     target_link_options(zvec_c_api PRIVATE
         ${ZVEC_WHOLE_ARCHIVE_PREFIX}$<TARGET_FILE:zvec_db>
         ${ZVEC_WHOLE_ARCHIVE_PREFIX}$<TARGET_FILE:zvec_core>
         ${ZVEC_WHOLE_ARCHIVE_PREFIX}$<TARGET_FILE:zvec_ailego>
         ${ZVEC_WHOLE_ARCHIVE_PREFIX}$<TARGET_FILE:zvec_turbo>
+        ${ZVEC_WHOLE_ARCHIVE_PREFIX}$<TARGET_FILE:roaring>
     )
-    
+
     target_link_libraries(zvec_c_api
         PRIVATE
             zvec_db
             zvec_core
             zvec_ailego
             zvec_turbo
-            roaring  # May be DLL on Windows, link normally
+            roaring
             ${ZVEC_CXX_STD_LIB}
             Threads::Threads
     )
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 7308514..7be2294 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 include(${PROJECT_ROOT_DIR}/cmake/bazel.cmake)
 include(${PROJECT_ROOT_DIR}/cmake/option.cmake)
 
+# TODO(windows): this is for test_util.h, should be removed
+include_directories(${PROJECT_ROOT_DIR})
+
 cc_directories(ailego)
 cc_directories(db)
 cc_directories(core)
diff --git a/thirdparty/CRoaring/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/CRoaring/CMakeLists.txt
index af6dfb3..3322b65 100644
--- a/thirdparty/CRoaring/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/thirdparty/CRoaring/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 set(ENABLE_ROARING_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Disable testing in CRoaring" FORCE)
+if(MSVC)
+    set(ROARING_BUILD_STATIC ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+endif()
 
 set(_SAVED_CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY})
 set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${EXTERNAL_LIB_DIR})
diff --git a/thirdparty/antlr/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/antlr/CMakeLists.txt
index 1f84eab..6a296eb 100644
--- a/thirdparty/antlr/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/thirdparty/antlr/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ set(ANTLR_SRC_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/antlr4)
 set(ANTLR_PATCH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/antlr4.patch)
 apply_patch_once("antlr4_fix" "${ANTLR_SRC_DIR}" "${ANTLR_PATCH}")
 
-set(WITH_STATIC_CRT OFF CACHE BOOL "Use dynamic CRT for antlr4" FORCE)
+if(MSVC)
+    set(WITH_STATIC_CRT ${ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT} CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+endif()
 add_subdirectory(antlr4/runtime/Cpp/)
 
 target_include_directories(antlr4_static INTERFACE
diff --git a/thirdparty/arrow/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
index f1d0bdb..0a76184 100644
--- a/thirdparty/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/thirdparty/arrow/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ else()
         set(ARROW_PATCH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/arrow.patch)
         apply_patch_once("arrow_fix" "${ARROW_SRC_DIR}" "${ARROW_PATCH}")
 endif()
+if(MSVC)
+        set(ARROW_WIN_PATCH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/arrow.windows.patch)
+        apply_patch_once("arrow_windows_crt_fix" "${ARROW_SRC_DIR}" "${ARROW_WIN_PATCH}")
+endif()
 
 include(ExternalProject)
 include(ProcessorCount)
@@ -58,7 +62,19 @@ if(ANDROID)
                 LOG_INSTALL ON
         )
 elseif (MSVC)
-    set(ARROW_EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=/FS -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=/FS)
+    if(ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT)
+        set(_ARROW_CRT_FLAG "/MT")
+        set(_ARROW_MSVC_RUNTIME "MultiThreaded$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>")
+    else()
+        set(_ARROW_CRT_FLAG "/MD")
+        set(_ARROW_MSVC_RUNTIME "MultiThreadedDLL$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>")
+    endif()
+    set(ARROW_EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS
+        "-DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=/FS ${_ARROW_CRT_FLAG}"
+        "-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=/FS ${_ARROW_CRT_FLAG}"
+        -DARROW_USE_STATIC_CRT=${ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT}
+        "-DCMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY=${_ARROW_MSVC_RUNTIME}"
+    )
         ExternalProject_Add(
                 ARROW.BUILD PREFIX arrow
                 SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/apache-arrow-21.0.0
diff --git a/thirdparty/arrow/arrow.windows.patch b/thirdparty/arrow/arrow.windows.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2087c76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/arrow/arrow.windows.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+diff --git a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+--- a/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
++++ b/cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake
+@@ -862,10 +862,18 @@
+ foreach(CONFIG DEBUG MINSIZEREL RELEASE RELWITHDEBINFO)
+   set(EP_CXX_FLAGS_${CONFIG} "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_${CONFIG}}")
+   set(EP_C_FLAGS_${CONFIG} "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_${CONFIG}}")
+-  if(CONFIG STREQUAL DEBUG)
+-    set(EP_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY MultiThreadedDebugDLL)
++  if(ARROW_USE_STATIC_CRT)
++    if(CONFIG STREQUAL DEBUG)
++      set(EP_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY MultiThreadedDebug)
++    else()
++      set(EP_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY MultiThreaded)
++    endif()
+   else()
+-    set(EP_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY MultiThreadedDLL)
++    if(CONFIG STREQUAL DEBUG)
++      set(EP_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY MultiThreadedDebugDLL)
++    else()
++      set(EP_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY MultiThreadedDLL)
++    endif()
+   endif()
+   string(APPEND EP_CXX_FLAGS_${CONFIG}
+          " ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILE_OPTIONS_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_${EP_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY}}")
diff --git a/thirdparty/googletest/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/googletest/CMakeLists.txt
index c2cbc97..0ba5ddf 100644
--- a/thirdparty/googletest/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/thirdparty/googletest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,8 +6,11 @@ if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
 endif()
 
 if (MSVC)
-    set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OFF)
-    set(gtest_force_shared_crt ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+    if(NOT ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT)
+        set(gtest_force_shared_crt ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+    else()
+        set(gtest_force_shared_crt OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+    endif()
 endif ()
 
 
diff --git a/thirdparty/lz4/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/lz4/CMakeLists.txt
index 3b3ef86..6b3f57b 100644
--- a/thirdparty/lz4/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/thirdparty/lz4/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ if(MSVC)
             CMAKE_ARGS
             -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${EXTERNAL_BINARY_DIR}/usr/local
             -DCMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR=lib
+            -DCMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY=${CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY}
             -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF
             -DBUILD_STATIC_LIBS=ON
             -DLZ4_BUILD_CLI=OFF
diff --git a/thirdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
index 7e4c1b2..0eebf94 100644
--- a/thirdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/thirdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 set(protobuf_BUILD_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Disable testing in protobuf" FORCE)
 set(protobuf_WITH_ZLIB ON CACHE BOOL "Disable zlib support in protobuf" FORCE)
+if(MSVC)
+    set(protobuf_MSVC_STATIC_RUNTIME ${ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT} CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+endif()
 
 set(_SAVED_CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY})
 set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${EXTERNAL_LIB_DIR})
diff --git a/thirdparty/rocksdb/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/rocksdb/CMakeLists.txt
index 721e2f7..334a67c 100644
--- a/thirdparty/rocksdb/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/thirdparty/rocksdb/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,14 @@ endif()
 
 set(ROCKSDB_BUILD_SHARED OFF CACHE BOOL "Disable install in rocksdb" FORCE)
 
+if(MSVC)
+    if(ZVEC_USE_STATIC_CRT)
+        set(WITH_MD_LIBRARY OFF CACHE BOOL "build rocksdb with MT to match project CRT" FORCE)
+    else()
+        set(WITH_MD_LIBRARY ON CACHE BOOL "build rocksdb with MD to match project CRT" FORCE)
+    endif()
+endif()
+
 set(WITH_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Disable testing in rocksdb" FORCE)
 set(WITH_ALL_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Build all test, rather than a small subset" FORCE)
 set(WITH_BENCHMARK_TOOLS OFF CACHE BOOL "Disable benchmarks in rocksdb" FORCE)