diff --git a/src/debug.hh b/src/debug.hh
index bf46675..b56ef2c 100644
--- a/src/debug.hh
+++ b/src/debug.hh
@@ -18,6 +18,20 @@ inline const char *className(const std::string& prettyFunction)
 }
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
+
+static inline void win_get_last_error(void)
+{
+    wchar_t *s = NULL;
+    FormatMessageW(
+        FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS,
+        NULL, WSAGetLastError(),
+        MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT),
+        (LPWSTR)&s, 0, NULL
+    );
+    fprintf(stderr, "%S %d\n", s, WSAGetLastError());
+    LocalFree(s);
+}
+
 #define LOG_LEVEL_ERROR "ERROR"
 #define LOG_LEVEL_WARN  "WARNING"
 #define LOG_LEVEL_INFO  "INFO"
diff --git a/src/hostname.cc b/src/hostname.cc
index 276c37c..fc40048 100644
--- a/src/hostname.cc
+++ b/src/hostname.cc
@@ -19,9 +19,8 @@ std::string kvz_rtp::hostname::get_hostname()
     char buffer[NAME_MAXLEN];
     DWORD bufCharCount = NAME_MAXLEN;
 
-    if(!GetComputerName((TCHAR *)buffer, &bufCharCount)) {
-        LOG_ERROR("Failed to get computer name!");
-        return "";
+    if (!GetComputerName((TCHAR *)buffer, &bufCharCount)) {
+        win_get_last_error();
     }
 
     return std::string(buffer);
@@ -43,8 +42,8 @@ std::string kvz_rtp::hostname::get_username()
     char buffer[NAME_MAXLEN];
     DWORD bufCharCount = NAME_MAXLEN;
 
-    if(!GetUserName((TCHAR *)buffer, &bufCharCount)) {
-        LOG_ERROR("Failed to get user name!");
+    if (!GetUserName((TCHAR *)buffer, &bufCharCount)) {
+        win_get_last_error();
         return "";
     }
 
diff --git a/src/lib.cc b/src/lib.cc
index 3eb6491..f056d52 100644
--- a/src/lib.cc
+++ b/src/lib.cc
@@ -16,8 +16,7 @@ kvz_rtp::context::context()
     int rc;
 
     if ((rc = WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &wsd)) != 0) {
-        LOG_ERROR("Unable to load Winsock: %d\n", rc);
-        /* TODO: how to stop everything?? */
+        win_get_last_error();
     }
 #endif
 }
diff --git a/src/socket.cc b/src/socket.cc
index 5604fc5..e9882dc 100644
--- a/src/socket.cc
+++ b/src/socket.cc
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ rtp_error_t kvz_rtp::socket::init(short family, int type, int protocol)
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
     if ((socket_ = ::socket(family, type, protocol)) == INVALID_SOCKET) {
-        LOG_ERROR("todo windows specific error message");
+        win_get_last_error();
 #else
     if ((socket_ = ::socket(family, type, protocol)) < 0) {
         LOG_ERROR("Failed to create socket: %s", strerror(errno));
@@ -67,6 +67,11 @@ rtp_error_t kvz_rtp::socket::bind(short family, unsigned host, short port)
     sockaddr_in addr = create_sockaddr(family, host, port);
 
     if (::bind(socket_, (struct sockaddr *)&addr, sizeof(addr)) < 0) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        win_get_last_error();
+#else
+        fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", strerror(errno));
+#endif
         LOG_ERROR("Biding to port %u failed!", port);
         return RTP_BIND_ERROR;
     }
@@ -134,8 +139,7 @@ rtp_error_t kvz_rtp::socket::__sendto(sockaddr_in& addr, uint8_t *buf, size_t bu
     data_buf.len = buf_len;
 
     if (WSASendTo(socket_, &data_buf, 1, &sent_bytes, flags, (const struct sockaddr *)&addr, sizeof(addr_), NULL, NULL) == -1) {
-        /* TODO: winsock specific error message */
-        LOG_ERROR("Failed to send data!");
+        win_get_last_error();
 
         if (bytes_sent)
             *bytes_sent = -1;
@@ -192,7 +196,7 @@ rtp_error_t kvz_rtp::socket::__recvfrom(uint8_t *buf, size_t buf_len, int flags,
     int32_t ret = ::recvfrom(socket_, (char *)buf, buf_len, flags, (SOCKADDR *)sender, (int *)len_ptr);
 
     if (ret == -1) {
-        LOG_ERROR("recvfrom failed: %d", WSAGetLastError());
+        win_get_last_error();
 
         if (bytes_read)
             *bytes_read = -1;