diff --git a/src/main/java/org/qora/ApplyUpdate.java b/src/main/java/org/qora/ApplyUpdate.java
index 7f3619a2..c465e7a0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/qora/ApplyUpdate.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/qora/ApplyUpdate.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ public class ApplyUpdate {
 	private static final Logger LOGGER = LogManager.getLogger(ApplyUpdate.class);
 	private static final String JAR_FILENAME = AutoUpdate.JAR_FILENAME;
 	private static final String NEW_JAR_FILENAME = AutoUpdate.NEW_JAR_FILENAME;
+	private static final String WINDOWS_EXE_LAUNCHER = "qora-core.exe";
 
 	private static final long CHECK_INTERVAL = 5 * 1000; // ms
 	private static final int MAX_ATTEMPTS = 5;
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ public class ApplyUpdate {
 		for (attempt = 0; attempt < MAX_ATTEMPTS; ++attempt) {
 			LOGGER.debug(String.format("Attempt #%d out of %d to shutdown node", attempt + 1, MAX_ATTEMPTS));
 			String response = ApiRequest.perform(BASE_URI + "admin/stop", null);
-			if (response != null)
+			if (response == null)
 				break;
 
 			try {
@@ -90,6 +91,11 @@ public class ApplyUpdate {
 		Path realJar = Paths.get(JAR_FILENAME);
 		Path newJar = Paths.get(NEW_JAR_FILENAME);
 
+		if (!Files.exists(newJar)) {
+			LOGGER.warn(String.format("Replacement JAR '%s' not found?", newJar));
+			return;
+		}
+
 		int attempt;
 		for (attempt = 0; attempt < MAX_ATTEMPTS; ++attempt) {
 			LOGGER.debug(String.format("Attempt #%d out of %d to replace JAR", attempt + 1, MAX_ATTEMPTS));
@@ -118,8 +124,16 @@ public class ApplyUpdate {
 		Path javaBinary = Paths.get(javaHome, "bin", "java");
 		LOGGER.debug(String.format("Java binary: %s", javaBinary));
 
+		Path exeLauncher = Paths.get(WINDOWS_EXE_LAUNCHER);
+		LOGGER.debug(String.format("Windows EXE launcher: %s", exeLauncher));
+
+		List<String> javaCmd;
+		if (Files.exists(exeLauncher))
+			javaCmd = Arrays.asList(exeLauncher.toString());
+		else
+			javaCmd = Arrays.asList(javaBinary.toString(), "-jar", JAR_FILENAME);
+
 		try {
-			List<String> javaCmd = Arrays.asList(javaBinary.toString(), "-jar", JAR_FILENAME);
 			LOGGER.info(String.format("Restarting node with: %s", String.join(" ", javaCmd)));
 
 			new ProcessBuilder(javaCmd).start();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/qora/api/ApiRequest.java b/src/main/java/org/qora/api/ApiRequest.java
index ebd0798b..48d8565d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/qora/api/ApiRequest.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/qora/api/ApiRequest.java
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ public class ApiRequest {
 
 		con.setRequestMethod("GET");
 		con.setConnectTimeout(5000);
-		con.setReadTimeout(5000);
+		con.setReadTimeout(3000);
 		ApiRequest.setConnectionSSL(con, ipAddress);
 
 		int status = con.getResponseCode();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/qora/controller/AutoUpdate.java b/src/main/java/org/qora/controller/AutoUpdate.java
index 4fe033a6..6d023e1f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/qora/controller/AutoUpdate.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/qora/controller/AutoUpdate.java
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ public class AutoUpdate extends Thread {
 	private static final int GIT_COMMIT_HASH_LENGTH = 20; // SHA-1
 	private static final int EXPECTED_DATA_LENGTH = Transformer.TIMESTAMP_LENGTH + GIT_COMMIT_HASH_LENGTH + Transformer.SHA256_LENGTH;
 
+	/** This byte value used to hide contents from deep-inspection firewalls in case they block updates. */
+	private static final byte XOR_VALUE = (byte) 0x5a;
+
 	private static AutoUpdate instance;
 
 	private volatile boolean isStopping = false;
@@ -170,6 +173,9 @@ public class AutoUpdate extends Thread {
 					if (nread == -1)
 						break;
 
+					for (int i = 0; i < nread; ++i)
+						buffer[i] ^= XOR_VALUE;
+
 					sha256.update(buffer, 0, nread);
 					out.write(buffer, 0, nread);
 				} while (true);