diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3c24c7f25e4c55a3d60e418653055b2408da8b69..d3083adfde83fd0008b00b6b9a34d4e8073eedb0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 bitmask-systray
 locales/*/out.gotext.json
 .*.swp
+*.exe
diff --git a/bitmask_go/launcher_linux.go b/bitmask_go/launcher_linux.go
index 12bd1cbabad6e36ec879d580be4204eb7cbb8cdd..4046fa52c0f0af22549e919d98a33ea2b4163ab0 100644
--- a/bitmask_go/launcher_linux.go
+++ b/bitmask_go/launcher_linux.go
@@ -38,10 +38,14 @@ type launcher struct {
 	openvpnCh chan []string
 }
 
-func newLauncher() *launcher {
+func newLauncher() (*launcher, error) {
 	l := launcher{make(chan []string, 1)}
 	go l.openvpnRunner()
-	return &l
+	return &l, nil
+}
+
+func (l *launcher) close() error {
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (l *launcher) openvpnStart(flags ...string) error {
diff --git a/bitmask_go/launcher_windows.go b/bitmask_go/launcher_windows.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cff9daab5306f6eb1712554dd5ca767c124c7a00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bitmask_go/launcher_windows.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+// +build windows
+// Copyright (C) 2018 LEAP
+//
+// This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package bitmask
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"net/textproto"
+)
+
+const (
+	helperAddr = "localhost:7171"
+)
+
+type launcher struct {
+	conn *textproto.Conn
+}
+
+func newLauncher() (*launcher, error) {
+	conn, err := textproto.Dial("tcp", helperAddr)
+	return &launcher{conn}, err
+}
+
+func (l *launcher) close() error {
+	return l.conn.Close()
+}
+
+func (l *launcher) openvpnStart(flags ...string) error {
+	return l.send("openvpn_start", flags...)
+}
+
+func (l *launcher) openvpnStop() error {
+	return l.send("openvpn_stop")
+}
+
+func (l *launcher) firewallStart(gateways []gateway) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (l *launcher) firewallStop() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (l *launcher) send(cmd string, args ...string) error {
+	if args == nil {
+		args = []string{}
+	}
+	command := struct {
+		Cmd  string   `json:"cmd"`
+		Args []string `json:"args"`
+	}{cmd, args}
+	bytesCmd, err := json.Marshal(command)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	_, err = l.conn.Cmd(string(bytesCmd))
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/bitmask_go/main.go b/bitmask_go/main.go
index fee4a4240d2e28f5f4a2ce3b4d71dc258edcc02a..357d53fc5b299d22168c52d55b4b7becb9e8fdfe 100644
--- a/bitmask_go/main.go
+++ b/bitmask_go/main.go
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ func Init() (*Bitmask, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	bonafide := newBonafide()
-	launch := newLauncher()
+	launch, err := newLauncher()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	b := Bitmask{tempdir, statusCh, nil, bonafide, launch}
 
 	err = b.StopVPN()
@@ -70,7 +73,11 @@ func (b *Bitmask) GetStatusCh() <-chan string {
 // Close the connection to bitmask
 func (b *Bitmask) Close() {
 	b.StopVPN()
-	err := os.RemoveAll(b.tempdir)
+	err := b.launch.close()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("There was an error closing the launcher: %v", err)
+	}
+	err = os.RemoveAll(b.tempdir)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("There was an error removing temp dir: %v", err)
 	}