diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-macos.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-macos.yml
index 5dcec6a..4664479 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-macos.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-macos.yml
@@ -315,3 +315,14 @@ jobs:
           "$MCPP" build
           "$MCPP" --version
           echo ":: Self-host smoke PASS"
+
+      - name: Fresh user experience (xlings install mcpp → new → run)
+        continue-on-error: true
+        run: |
+          # Test real user flow with xlings-distributed mcpp.
+          # May fail if xlings mcpp version lacks recent fixes.
+          TMP=$(mktemp -d)
+          cd "$TMP"
+          mcpp new hello
+          cd hello
+          mcpp run
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-windows.yml
index 9114523..d8b9aa0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-windows.yml
@@ -108,6 +108,19 @@ jobs:
           "$MCPP_SELF" --version
           echo ":: Self-host smoke PASS"
 
+      - name: Fresh user experience (xlings install mcpp → new → run)
+        continue-on-error: true
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          # Test the real user flow with the xlings-distributed mcpp.
+          # Currently xlings ships 0.0.17 which lacks Windows fixes.
+          # This step will auto-pass once xlings updates to 0.0.19+.
+          TMP=$(mktemp -d)
+          cd "$TMP"
+          "$MCPP" new hello
+          cd hello
+          "$MCPP" run
+
       - name: Package Windows release zip
         id: package
         shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 89fcf68..e0ad346 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -133,3 +133,14 @@ jobs:
           MCPP=$(realpath "$(find target -type f -name mcpp -printf '%T@ %p\n' | sort -rn | head -1 | cut -d' ' -f2)")
           "$MCPP" build
           "$MCPP" test
+
+      - name: Fresh user experience (xlings install mcpp → new → run)
+        continue-on-error: true
+        run: |
+          # Test real user flow with xlings-distributed mcpp.
+          # May fail if xlings mcpp version lacks recent fixes.
+          TMP=$(mktemp -d)
+          cd "$TMP"
+          mcpp new hello
+          cd hello
+          mcpp run
diff --git a/src/build/ninja_backend.cppm b/src/build/ninja_backend.cppm
index f2c7073..b5cccce 100644
--- a/src/build/ninja_backend.cppm
+++ b/src/build/ninja_backend.cppm
@@ -317,8 +317,10 @@ std::string emit_ninja_string(const BuildPlan& plan) {
         } else {
             // Clang path: clang-scan-deps produces P1689 JSON to stdout.
 #if defined(_WIN32)
-            append("  command = $scan_deps -format=p1689 -- "
-                   "$cxx $cxxflags -c $in -o $compile_target > $out\n");
+            // Wrap in cmd /c for shell redirection (ninja on Windows uses
+            // CreateProcess which doesn't interpret > as redirect).
+            append("  command = cmd /c \"$scan_deps -format=p1689 -- "
+                   "$cxx $cxxflags -c $in -o $compile_target > $out\"\n");
 #else
             append("  command = $toolenv $scan_deps -format=p1689 -- "
                    "$cxx $cxxflags -c $in -o $compile_target > $out\n");
diff --git a/src/cli.cppm b/src/cli.cppm
index f0aaf8e..a8ba0f1 100644
--- a/src/cli.cppm
+++ b/src/cli.cppm
@@ -1110,7 +1110,7 @@ prepare_build(bool print_fingerprint,
         // CI / offline / test opt-out: hard-error instead of silently
         // pulling ~800 MB of toolchain. Preserves the original M5.5
         // contract for environments that need it.
-#if defined(__APPLE__)
+#if defined(__APPLE__) || defined(_WIN32)
         return std::unexpected(
             "no toolchain configured.\n"
             "       run one of:\n"
diff --git a/src/config.cppm b/src/config.cppm
index 6c843f7..2c51951 100644
--- a/src/config.cppm
+++ b/src/config.cppm
@@ -84,6 +84,18 @@ struct GlobalConfig {
 
 // Create an xlings::Env from the resolved GlobalConfig.
 mcpp::xlings::Env make_xlings_env(const GlobalConfig& cfg) {
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+    // On Windows, the copied xlings binary in the sandbox may not function
+    // correctly for large package installs (missing runtime environment).
+    // When MCPP_VENDORED_XLINGS is set, use the original xlings binary
+    // directly — it has the full xlings runtime. The XLINGS_HOME env var
+    // ensures packages are installed into the mcpp sandbox.
+    if (auto* e = std::getenv("MCPP_VENDORED_XLINGS"); e && *e) {
+        std::filesystem::path vendored{e};
+        if (std::filesystem::exists(vendored))
+            return { vendored, cfg.xlingsHome() };
+    }
+#endif
     return { cfg.xlingsBinary, cfg.xlingsHome() };
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pm/package_fetcher.cppm b/src/pm/package_fetcher.cppm
index 52f2bd8..696a961 100644
--- a/src/pm/package_fetcher.cppm
+++ b/src/pm/package_fetcher.cppm
@@ -605,28 +605,37 @@ Fetcher::resolve_xpkg_path(std::string_view target,
     };
 
     auto resolve = [&]() -> std::expected<XpkgPayload, CallError> {
-        // xlings may install the package into its global home rather than
-        // the mcpp sandbox. If the expected path is missing, copy from the
-        // global xlings data directory.
-        if (!std::filesystem::exists(verdir)) {
-            auto xhome = std::getenv("HOME");
 #if defined(_WIN32)
-            if (!xhome) xhome = std::getenv("USERPROFILE");
-#endif
+        // Workaround: xlings on Windows may extract large packages (e.g. LLVM)
+        // into its global data dir instead of the mcpp sandbox, because the
+        // extraction subprocess doesn't inherit XLINGS_HOME. Detect this and
+        // copy the payload into the sandbox so mcpp remains self-contained.
+        if (!std::filesystem::exists(verdir)) {
+            // Try xlings' own data dir (where `xlings self install` placed it)
+            auto xhome = std::getenv("USERPROFILE");
+            if (!xhome) xhome = std::getenv("HOME");
             if (xhome) {
-                auto globalDir = std::filesystem::path(xhome)
-                    / ".xlings" / "data" / "xpkgs"
-                    / verdir.parent_path().filename()
-                    / verdir.filename();
-                std::error_code ec;
-                if (std::filesystem::exists(globalDir, ec)) {
-                    std::filesystem::create_directories(verdir.parent_path(), ec);
-                    std::filesystem::copy(globalDir, verdir,
-                        std::filesystem::copy_options::recursive
-                        | std::filesystem::copy_options::overwrite_existing, ec);
+                // xlings stores xpkgs at <home>/.xlings/data/xpkgs/ or
+                // <home>/.xlings/subos/default/data/xpkgs/
+                auto pkgDir = verdir.parent_path().filename().string();
+                auto verName = verdir.filename().string();
+                std::filesystem::path candidates[] = {
+                    std::filesystem::path(xhome) / ".xlings" / "data" / "xpkgs" / pkgDir / verName,
+                    std::filesystem::path(xhome) / ".xlings" / "subos" / "default" / "data" / "xpkgs" / pkgDir / verName,
+                };
+                for (auto& src : candidates) {
+                    std::error_code ec;
+                    if (std::filesystem::exists(src, ec) && std::filesystem::is_directory(src, ec)) {
+                        std::filesystem::create_directories(verdir.parent_path(), ec);
+                        std::filesystem::copy(src, verdir,
+                            std::filesystem::copy_options::recursive
+                            | std::filesystem::copy_options::overwrite_existing, ec);
+                        if (!ec) break;
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }
+#endif
         if (!std::filesystem::exists(verdir)) {
             return std::unexpected(CallError{
                 std::format("xpkg payload missing: {}", verdir.string())});
diff --git a/src/xlings.cppm b/src/xlings.cppm
index 39ebfb8..7d5c8af 100644
--- a/src/xlings.cppm
+++ b/src/xlings.cppm
@@ -428,18 +428,13 @@ std::filesystem::path sandbox_init_marker(const Env& env) {
 std::string build_command_prefix(const Env& env) {
     auto xvmBin = paths::sandbox_bin(env).string();
 #if defined(_WIN32)
-    // Windows: set environment variables via the process environment
-    // (cmd.exe `set` in compound &&-chains is unreliable) then invoke
-    // xlings directly. _putenv_s is inherited by popen/system child.
     _putenv_s("XLINGS_HOME", env.home.string().c_str());
     _putenv_s("XLINGS_PROJECT_DIR",
               env.projectDir.empty() ? "" : env.projectDir.string().c_str());
-    // Prepend sandbox bin to PATH
     {
         std::string newPath = xvmBin + ";" + (std::getenv("PATH") ? std::getenv("PATH") : "");
         _putenv_s("PATH", newPath.c_str());
     }
-    // Return raw path — no quoting to avoid cmd.exe double-quote parsing issues
     return env.binary.string();
 #else
     if (env.projectDir.empty()) {
@@ -666,9 +661,17 @@ int install_with_progress(const Env& env, std::string_view target,
 #if defined(_WIN32)
     _putenv_s("XLINGS_HOME", env.home.string().c_str());
     _putenv_s("XLINGS_PROJECT_DIR", "");
-    // Use raw path (no quoting) to avoid cmd.exe double-quote parsing issues.
-    // Wrap only the JSON arg in single-escaped quotes for the C runtime.
-    auto cmd = std::format("{} interface install_packages --args {} 2>nul",
+    std::error_code ec_mkdir;
+    std::filesystem::create_directories(env.home, ec_mkdir);
+    // Use direct `install` command instead of `interface install_packages`
+    // on Windows. The NDJSON interface may have issues with large packages
+    // where the extraction subprocess doesn't respect XLINGS_HOME.
+    auto directCmd = std::format("{} install {} -y",
+        env.binary.string(), target);
+    int directRc = std::system(directCmd.c_str());
+    if (directRc == 0) return 0;
+    // Fallback to interface path if direct install fails
+    auto cmd = std::format("{} interface install_packages --args {}",
         env.binary.string(),
         shq(argsJson));
 #else