diff --git a/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd.vcxproj b/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd.vcxproj
index 31a3c0b33..2fdc87d0e 100644
--- a/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd.vcxproj
+++ b/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd.vcxproj
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@
     <Link>
       <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
-      <AdditionalDependencies>ws2_32.lib;Wininet.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <AdditionalDependencies>psapi.lib;ws2_32.lib;Wininet.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Development|x64'">
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@
     <Link>
       <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
-      <AdditionalDependencies>ws2_32.lib;Wininet.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <AdditionalDependencies>psapi.lib;ws2_32.lib;Wininet.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'">
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
       <EnableCOMDATFolding>true</EnableCOMDATFolding>
       <OptimizeReferences>true</OptimizeReferences>
-      <AdditionalDependencies>$(SolutionDir)\renderdoc\3rdparty\breakpad\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\breakpad_common.lib;$(SolutionDir)\renderdoc\3rdparty\breakpad\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\crash_generation_server.lib;ws2_32.lib;Wininet.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <AdditionalDependencies>$(SolutionDir)\renderdoc\3rdparty\breakpad\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\breakpad_common.lib;$(SolutionDir)\renderdoc\3rdparty\breakpad\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\crash_generation_server.lib;psapi.lib;ws2_32.lib;Wininet.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
       <EnableCOMDATFolding>true</EnableCOMDATFolding>
       <OptimizeReferences>true</OptimizeReferences>
-      <AdditionalDependencies>$(SolutionDir)\renderdoc\3rdparty\breakpad\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\breakpad_common.lib;$(SolutionDir)\renderdoc\3rdparty\breakpad\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\crash_generation_server.lib;ws2_32.lib;Wininet.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <AdditionalDependencies>$(SolutionDir)\renderdoc\3rdparty\breakpad\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\breakpad_common.lib;$(SolutionDir)\renderdoc\3rdparty\breakpad\$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\crash_generation_server.lib;psapi.lib;ws2_32.lib;Wininet.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
@@ -200,4 +200,4 @@
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
   </ImportGroup>
-</Project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</Project>
diff --git a/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd_win32.cpp b/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd_win32.cpp
index 16535f0ee..ec77a15bd 100644
--- a/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd_win32.cpp
+++ b/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd_win32.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@
 #include "miniz/miniz.h"
 #include "resource.h"
 
+#include <Psapi.h>
+#include <tlhelp32.h>
+
 using std::string;
 using std::wstring;
 using std::vector;
@@ -266,6 +269,48 @@ void DisplayRendererPreview(ReplayRenderer *renderer, TextureDisplay &displayCfg
   DestroyWindow(wnd);
 }
 
+// from http://stackoverflow.com/q/29939893/4070143
+// and http://stackoverflow.com/a/4570213/4070143
+
+std::string getParentExe()
+{
+  DWORD pid = GetCurrentProcessId();
+  HANDLE h = NULL;
+  PROCESSENTRY32 pe = {0};
+  DWORD ppid = 0;
+  pe.dwSize = sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
+  h = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0);
+  if(Process32First(h, &pe))
+  {
+    do
+    {
+      if(pe.th32ProcessID == pid)
+      {
+        ppid = pe.th32ParentProcessID;
+        break;
+      }
+    } while(Process32Next(h, &pe));
+  }
+  CloseHandle(h);
+
+  if(ppid == 0)
+    return "";
+
+  h = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION | PROCESS_VM_READ, FALSE, ppid);
+  if(h)
+  {
+    char buf[MAX_PATH];
+    if(GetModuleFileNameExA(h, 0, buf, MAX_PATH))
+    {
+      CloseHandle(h);
+      return buf;
+    }
+    CloseHandle(h);
+  }
+
+  return "";
+}
+
 int WINAPI wWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInst, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, _In_ LPWSTR lpCmdLine,
                     _In_ int nShowCmd)
 {
@@ -295,6 +340,21 @@ int WINAPI wWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInst, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, _In_
 
   LocalFree(wargv);
 
+  // if launched from cmd.exe, be friendly and redirect output
+  std::string parent = getParentExe();
+  for(size_t i = 0; i < parent.length(); i++)
+  {
+    parent[i] = tolower(parent[i]);
+    if(parent[i] == '\\')
+      parent[i] = '/';
+  }
+
+  if(strstr(parent.c_str(), "/cmd.exe") && AttachConsole(ATTACH_PARENT_PROCESS))
+  {
+    freopen("CONOUT$", "w", stdout);
+    freopen("CONOUT$", "w", stderr);
+  }
+
   hInstance = hInst;
 
   WNDCLASSEX wc;