diff --git a/BUILD.gn b/BUILD.gn
index af75c7d..6751d26 100644
--- a/BUILD.gn
+++ b/BUILD.gn
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ source_set("xp_activate32_sources") {
     "src/framework.h",
     "src/globals.h",
     "src/keygen.h",
+    "src/strings.h",
     "src/resource.h",
     "src/utils.h",
     "src/xp_activate32.h",
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ source_set("xp_activate32_sources") {
 
   sources += [
     "src/keygen.cc",
+    "src/strings.cc",
     "src/resource.rc",
     "src/utils.cc",
     "src/xp_activate32.cc",
diff --git a/src/framework.h b/src/framework.h
index 2eb5b3f..4b86960 100644
--- a/src/framework.h
+++ b/src/framework.h
@@ -40,11 +40,9 @@
 #endif // not __MINGW32__
 
 #include <windows.h>
-#include <combaseapi.h>
 #include <commctrl.h>
 #include <commdlg.h>
 #include <tchar.h>
-
 #include <iostream>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <string>
diff --git a/src/strings.cc b/src/strings.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f7413d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/strings.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#include "strings.h"
+
+std::wstring stringToWstring(const std::string& str) {
+  if (str.empty()) {
+    return std::wstring();
+  }
+// Windows: convert UTF-8 → UTF-16
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  // Get length of string
+  int wide_len = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, str.c_str(), -1, nullptr, 0);
+  if (wide_len == 0) {
+    throw std::runtime_error("MultiByteToWideChar failed!");
+  }
+
+  // Convert it!
+  std::wstring result(wide_len, L'\0');
+  MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, str.c_str(), -1, &result[0], wide_len);
+
+  // Remove the null terminator added by Windows API ugh
+  if (!result.empty() && result.back() == L'\0') {
+    result.pop_back();
+  }
+// POSIX systems: convert UTF-8 → UTF-32 wchar_t
+#else
+  // Set locale for multibyte conversion (thread-local)
+  std::mbstate_t state{};
+  const char* src = str.c_str();
+  // find required size
+  size_t len = std::mbsrtowcs(nullptr, &src, 0, &state);
+  if (len == static_cast<size_t>(-1)) {
+    throw std::runtime_error("mbsrtowcs failed");
+  }
+
+  std::wstring result(len, L'\0');
+  state = std::mbstate_t{};
+  src = str.c_str();
+  std::mbsrtowcs(result.data(), &src, len, &state);
+#endif
+  return result;
+}
+
+std::string WstringToString(const std::wstring& wstr) {
+  if (wstr.empty()) {
+    return std::string();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/strings.h b/src/strings.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20c6c01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/strings.h
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#ifndef XP_ACTIVATE32_STRINGS_H_
+#define XP_ACTIVATE32_STRINGS_H_
+
+#include "framework.h"
+
+#include <stdexcept>
+#include <string>
+
+std::wstring stringToWstring(const std::string& str);
+
+std::string WstringToString(const std::wstring& wstr);
+
+#endif // XP_ACTIVATE32_STRINGS_H_
diff --git a/src/utils.cc b/src/utils.cc
index 42dd90d..98f5328 100644
--- a/src/utils.cc
+++ b/src/utils.cc
@@ -122,9 +122,9 @@ float getWinNTVersion() {
 }
 
 std::wstring GetWinVersion() {
-  std::string ver = GetOSName();
-  std::wstring wver = L"1.0";
+  const std::string ver = GetOSName();
   WinVer = ver;
+  std::wstring wver = stringToWstring(WinVer);
   return wver;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils.h b/src/utils.h
index a7a1949..ef5df4c 100644
--- a/src/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils.h
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #include "constants.h"
 #include "framework.h"
+#include "strings.h"
 
 extern wchar_t strings[16][256];
 
diff --git a/xp_activate32.vcxproj b/xp_activate32.vcxproj
index 3dedda2..174afb6 100644
--- a/xp_activate32.vcxproj
+++ b/xp_activate32.vcxproj
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClCompile Include="src/keygen.cc" />
+    <ClCompile Include="src/strings.cc" />
     <ClCompile Include="src/utils.cc" />
     <ClCompile Include="src/xp_activate32.cc" />
   </ItemGroup>
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@
     <ClInclude Include="src/framework.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="src/globals.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="src/keygen.h" />
+    <ClInclude Include="src/strings.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="src/resource.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="src/xp_activate32.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="src/utils.h" />
diff --git a/xp_activate32.vcxproj.filters b/xp_activate32.vcxproj.filters
index 9763411..95774da 100644
--- a/xp_activate32.vcxproj.filters
+++ b/xp_activate32.vcxproj.filters
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@
     <ClCompile Include="src/keygen.cc">
       <Filter>Source Files</Filter>
     </ClCompile>
+    <ClCompile Include="src/strings.cc">
+      <Filter>Source Files</Filter>
+    </ClCompile>
     <ClCompile Include="src/utils.cc">
       <Filter>Source Files</Filter>
     </ClCompile>
@@ -52,6 +55,9 @@
     <ClInclude Include="src/xp_activate32.h">
       <Filter>Header Files</Filter>
     </ClInclude>
+    <ClInclude Include="src/strings.h">
+      <Filter>Header Files</Filter>
+    </ClInclude>
     <ClInclude Include="src/utils.h">
       <Filter>Header Files</Filter>
     </ClInclude>