diff --git a/src/main/scala/sbt/FileUtilities.scala b/src/main/scala/sbt/FileUtilities.scala
index 69c70bb99..c63106b0a 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/sbt/FileUtilities.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/sbt/FileUtilities.scala
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ object FileUtilities
 		if(charset.newEncoder.canEncode(content))
 			write(file, charset, append, log) { w =>  w.write(content); None }
 		else
-			Some("String cannot be encoded by default charset.")
+			Some("String cannot be encoded by charset " + charset.name)
 	}
 	
 	/** Opens a <code>Writer</code> on the given file using the default encoding,
diff --git a/src/main/scala/sbt/Logger.scala b/src/main/scala/sbt/Logger.scala
index e319a04e9..3ee042897 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/sbt/Logger.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/sbt/Logger.scala
@@ -248,9 +248,15 @@ final class BufferedLogger(delegate: Logger) extends Logger
 
 object ConsoleLogger
 {
-	private[this] def formatExplicitlyDisabled = java.lang.Boolean.getBoolean("sbt.log.noformat")
-	private[this] def ansiSupported = jline.Terminal.getTerminal.isANSISupported
 	private val formatEnabled = ansiSupported && !formatExplicitlyDisabled
+	
+	private[this] def formatExplicitlyDisabled = java.lang.Boolean.getBoolean("sbt.log.noformat")
+	private[this] def ansiSupported =
+		try { jline.Terminal.getTerminal.isANSISupported }
+		catch { case e: Exception => !isWindows }
+	
+	private[this] def os = System.getProperty("os.name")
+	private[this] def isWindows = os.toLowerCase.indexOf("windows") >= 0
 }
 
 /** A logger that logs to the console.  On supported systems, the level labels are