diff --git a/Changes b/Changes
index d900118fa..8a8101156 100644
--- a/Changes
+++ b/Changes
@@ -1137,3 +1137,7 @@
   VHP will stay supported though... so it's not mandatory to switch over.
 - Fixed set::maxdccallow setting to <=0 still allowing one entry to be set, reported by
   RSCruiser (#0002883).
+- Fixed Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 (8.x) unable to compile, and, after fixing that, causing
+  a lot of crashes. Both are now fixed. Reported by Zell, Yamake, and others (#2875, #2704).
+  Fix provided by Xuefer. This also gets rid of some annoying and useless compile warnings
+  as well.
diff --git a/include/h.h b/include/h.h
index 9b309fe26..774421267 100644
--- a/include/h.h
+++ b/include/h.h
@@ -217,11 +217,11 @@ extern MODFUNC char *sock_strerror(int);
 extern int dgets(int, char *, int);
 extern char *inetntoa(char *);
 
-#if !defined(HAVE_SNPRINTF) || !defined(HAVE_VSNPRINTF)
-/* #ifndef _WIN32 XXX why was this?? -- Syzop. */
+#ifndef HAVE_SNPRINTF
 extern int snprintf (char *str, size_t count, const char *fmt, ...);
+#endif
+#ifndef HAVE_VSNPRINTF
 extern int vsnprintf (char *str, size_t count, const char *fmt, va_list arg);
-/* #endif */
 #endif
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
diff --git a/include/win32/setup.h b/include/win32/setup.h
index 5fd1c605e..4b2550e2d 100644
--- a/include/win32/setup.h
+++ b/include/win32/setup.h
@@ -43,6 +43,12 @@
 #undef  TIMES_2
 #undef  GETRUSAGE_2
 #define HAVE_ALLOCA
+/* vc 2005 */
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && _MSC_VER >= 1400
+#	define HAVE_VSNPRINTF
+#	define HAVE_SNPRINTF
+#	define snprintf _snprintf
+#endif
 #define SPATH "."
 #define DPATH "."
 #define DOMAINNAME "irc.net"
diff --git a/makefile.win32 b/makefile.win32
index ab2bc9b6a..ab53e2500 100644
--- a/makefile.win32
+++ b/makefile.win32
@@ -54,11 +54,19 @@ RC=rc
 #
 ######### END SSL ########
 
-###### RELEASE BUILD #####
-#To make a release build comment out the next line a release build
-#does not contain debugging symbols and can not be used to locate
-#the source of a crash or bug
-DEBUG=1
+###### _EXTRA_ DEBUGGING #####
+# We always build releases with debugging information, since otherwise
+# we cannot trace the source of a crash. Plus we do not mind the extra
+# performance hit caused by not enabling super-optimization, tracing
+# crashes properly is more important.
+# You can choose (at your own risk) to enable EVEN MORE debugging,
+# note that this causes /MDd to be used instead of /MD which can make
+# libraries incompatible, plus all the other side-effects such as
+# requiring a different dll we do not ship (and maybe you are not even
+# allowed to ship due to license agreements), etc...
+# In any case, this probably should not be used, unless debugging a
+# problem locally, in which case it can be useful.
+DEBUGEXTRA=0
 #
 #
 #### END RELEASE BUILD ###
@@ -100,25 +108,26 @@ OPENSSL_LIB=/LIBPATH:"$(OPENSSL_LIB_DIR)"
 !ENDIF
 !ENDIF
 
-!IFDEF DEBUG
-DBGCFLAG=/MD /Zi
-DBGLFLAG=/debug /debugtype:BOTH
-MODDBGCFLAG=/LDd /MD /Zi
+!IFDEF DEBUGEXTRA
+DBGCFLAG=/MDd /Zi /Od
+DBGLFLAG=/debug
+MODDBGCFLAG=/LDd /MDd /Zi
 !ELSE
-DBGCFLAG=/MD /O2 /G5
-MODDBGCFLAG=/LD /MD
+DBGCFLAG=/MD /Zi
+DBGLFLAG=/debug
+MODDBGCFLAG=/LDd /MD /Zi
 !ENDIF 
 
 FD_SETSIZE=/D FD_SETSIZE=16384
 CFLAGS=$(DBGCFLAG) $(LIBCURL_INC) $(ZLIB_INC) $(OPENSSL_INC) /J /I ./INCLUDE /I ./INCLUDE/WIN32/ARES /Fosrc/ /nologo \
- $(ZIPCFLAGS) $(CURLCFLAGS) $(FD_SETSIZE) $(SSLCFLAGS) $(NS_ADDRESS) /D NOSPOOF=1 /c 
+ $(ZIPCFLAGS) $(CURLCFLAGS) $(FD_SETSIZE) $(SSLCFLAGS) $(NS_ADDRESS) /D NOSPOOF=1 /c /D _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D _USE_32BIT_TIME_T
 LFLAGS=kernel32.lib user32.lib gdi32.lib shell32.lib ws2_32.lib advapi32.lib \
  dbghelp.lib oldnames.lib comctl32.lib comdlg32.lib $(ZLIB_LIB) $(ZIPLIB) \
  $(OPENSSL_LIB) $(SSLLIBS) $(LIBCURL_LIB) $(CURLLIB) /def:wircd.def /implib:wircd.lib \
  /nologo $(DBGLFLAG) /out:WIRCD.EXE
 MODCFLAGS=$(MODDBGCFLAG) $(SSLCFLAGS) $(ZIPCFLAGS) $(CURLCFLAGS) /J /Fesrc/modules/ \
  /Fosrc/modules/ /nologo $(LIBCURL_INC) $(ZLIB_INC) $(OPENSSL_INC) /I ./INCLUDE /D \
- DYNAMIC_LINKING /D NOSPOOF /D MODULE_COMPILE
+ DYNAMIC_LINKING /D NOSPOOF /D MODULE_COMPILE /D _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D _USE_32BIT_TIME_T
 MODLFLAGS=/link /def:src/modules/module.def wircd.lib $(OPENSSL_LIB) $(SSLLIBS) \
  $(ZLIB_LIB) $(ZIPLIB) $(LIBCURL_LIB) $(CURLLIB)
 
@@ -242,10 +251,10 @@ CONF:
 ./WIRCD.EXE: $(OBJ_FILES) SRC/win32/WIN32.RES
         $(LINK) $(LFLAGS) $(OBJ_FILES) SRC/win32/WIN32.RES SRC/WIN32/TRE.LIB SRC/WIN32/ARESLIB.LIB /MAPINFO:LINES /MAP
 	-@erase src\win32\win32.res
-!IFNDEF DEBUG
- @echo Non Debug version built 
+!IFNDEF DEBUGEXTRA
+ @echo Standard version built 
 !ELSE
- @echo Debug version built ... 
+ @echo Extra-Debug version built ... 
 !ENDIF
 
 #Source files
@@ -458,7 +467,8 @@ MODULES: $(DLL_FILES)
 src/modules/commands.dll: $(MOD_FILES) $(INCLUDES)
 	$(CC) $(MODDBGCFLAG) $(LIBCURL_INC) $(ZLIB_INC) $(OPENSSL_INC) /nologo \
 	      $(SSLCFLAGS) $(ZIPCFLAGS) $(CURLCFLAGS) /Fosrc/modules/ \
-	      /I ./INCLUDE /D NOSPOOF /D MODULE_COMPILE $(MOD_FILES) \
+	      /I ./INCLUDE /D NOSPOOF /D MODULE_COMPILE /D _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE \
+	      /D _USE_32BIT_TIME_T $(MOD_FILES) \
 	      $(MODLFLAGS) src/win32/tre.lib /OUT:src/modules/commands.dll
 
 src/modules/m_chghost.dll: src/modules/m_chghost.c $(INCLUDES)