diff --git a/neo/sys/win32/SDL_win32_main.c b/neo/sys/win32/SDL_win32_main.c
index eb8738d4..5f243a65 100644
--- a/neo/sys/win32/SDL_win32_main.c
+++ b/neo/sys/win32/SDL_win32_main.c
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #include <windows.h>
 
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+
 #ifdef _WIN32_WCE
 # define DIR_SEPERATOR TEXT("\\")
 # undef _getcwd
@@ -195,22 +197,50 @@ static void cleanup_output(void) {
 	}
 }
 
+extern int Sys_GetHomeDir(char *dst, size_t size);
+
 /* Redirect the output (stdout and stderr) to a file */
 static void redirect_output(void)
 {
-	DWORD pathlen;
 #ifdef _WIN32_WCE
 	wchar_t path[MAX_PATH];
+#error "adapt homedir code for wchar_t!"
 #else
 	char path[MAX_PATH];
+	struct _stat st;
+
+	// DG: use "My Documents/My Games/dhewm3" to write stdout.txt and stderr.txt
+	//     instead of the binary, which might not be writable
+	Sys_GetHomeDir(path, sizeof(path));
+
+	if (_stat(path, &st) == -1) {
+		// oops, "My Documents/My Games/dhewm3" doesn't exist - does My Games/ at least exist?
+		char myGamesPath[MAX_PATH];
+		memcpy(myGamesPath, path, MAX_PATH);
+		char* lastslash = strrchr(myGamesPath, '/');
+		if (lastslash != NULL) {
+			*lastslash = '\0';
+		}
+		if (_stat(myGamesPath, &st) == -1) {
+			// if My Documents/My Games/ doesn't exist, create it
+			_mkdir(myGamesPath);
+		}
+		
+		_mkdir(path); // create My Documents/My Games/dhewm3/
+	}
+	
+
 #endif
 	FILE *newfp;
 
+#if 0 // DG: don't do this anymore.
+	DWORD pathlen;
 	pathlen = GetModuleFileName(NULL, path, SDL_arraysize(path));
 	while ( pathlen > 0 && path[pathlen] != '\\' ) {
 		--pathlen;
 	}
 	path[pathlen] = '\0';
+#endif
 
 #ifdef _WIN32_WCE
 	wcsncpy( stdoutPath, path, SDL_arraysize(stdoutPath) );
diff --git a/neo/sys/win32/win_main.cpp b/neo/sys/win32/win_main.cpp
index f22040ea..b47c7bae 100644
--- a/neo/sys/win32/win_main.cpp
+++ b/neo/sys/win32/win_main.cpp
@@ -283,21 +283,23 @@ Based on (with kind permission) Yamagi Quake II's Sys_GetHomeDir()
 Returns the number of characters written to dst
 ==============
  */
-static int GetHomeDir(char *dst, size_t size)
-{
-	int len;
-	WCHAR profile[MAX_OSPATH];
+extern "C" { // DG: I need this in SDL_win32_main.c
+	int Sys_GetHomeDir(char *dst, size_t size)
+	{
+		int len;
+		WCHAR profile[MAX_OSPATH];
 
-	/* Get the path to "My Documents" directory */
-	SHGetFolderPathW(NULL, CSIDL_PERSONAL, NULL, 0, profile);
+		/* Get the path to "My Documents" directory */
+		SHGetFolderPathW(NULL, CSIDL_PERSONAL, NULL, 0, profile);
 
-	len = WPath2A(dst, size, profile);
-	if (len == 0)
-		return 0;
+		len = WPath2A(dst, size, profile);
+		if (len == 0)
+			return 0;
 
-	idStr::Append(dst, size, "/My Games/dhewm3");
+		idStr::Append(dst, size, "/My Games/dhewm3");
 
-	return len;
+		return len;
+	}
 }
 
 static int GetRegistryPath(char *dst, size_t size, const WCHAR *subkey, const WCHAR *name) {
@@ -354,6 +356,8 @@ bool Sys_GetPath(sysPath_t type, idStr &path) {
 			common->Warning("base path '%s' does not exist", s.c_str());
 		}
 
+		// Note: apparently there is no registry entry for the Doom 3 Demo
+
 		// fallback to vanilla doom3 cd install
 		if (GetRegistryPath(buf, sizeof(buf), L"SOFTWARE\\id\\Doom 3", L"InstallPath") > 0) {
 			path = buf;
@@ -369,13 +373,13 @@ bool Sys_GetPath(sysPath_t type, idStr &path) {
 				return true;
 		}
 
-		common->Warning("vanilla doom3 path not found");
+		common->Warning("vanilla doom3 path not found either");
 
 		return false;
 
 	case PATH_CONFIG:
 	case PATH_SAVE:
-		if (GetHomeDir(buf, sizeof(buf)) < 1) {
+		if (Sys_GetHomeDir(buf, sizeof(buf)) < 1) {
 			Sys_Error("ERROR: Couldn't get dir to home path");
 			return false;
 		}