diff --git a/src/spice2x/launcher/launcher.cpp b/src/spice2x/launcher/launcher.cpp
index 5902f01..5ed46ca 100644
--- a/src/spice2x/launcher/launcher.cpp
+++ b/src/spice2x/launcher/launcher.cpp
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@
 #include "touch/touch.h"
 #include "util/cpuutils.h"
 #include "util/crypt.h"
+#include "util/deferlog.h"
 #include "util/fileutils.h"
 #include "util/libutils.h"
 #include "util/logging.h"
@@ -1375,7 +1376,11 @@ int main_implementation(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         log_info("launcher", "loading early hook DLL {}", hook);
         HMODULE module;
         if (!(module = libutils::try_library(hook))) {
-            log_warning("launcher", "failed to load early hook {}", hook);
+            log_warning("launcher", "failed to load early hook {}: {}", hook, get_last_error_string());
+            deferredlogs::defer_error_messages({
+                fmt::format("failed to load early hook {}:", hook),
+                fmt::format("    {}", get_last_error_string())
+                });
         }
     }
 
@@ -2155,7 +2160,11 @@ int main_implementation(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         log_info("launcher", "loading hook DLL {}", hook);
         HMODULE module;
         if (!(module = libutils::try_library(hook))) {
-            log_warning("launcher", "failed to load hook {}", hook);
+            log_warning("launcher", "failed to load hook {}: {}", hook, get_last_error_string());
+            deferredlogs::defer_error_messages({
+                fmt::format("failed to load hook {}:", hook),
+                fmt::format("    {}", get_last_error_string())
+                });
         } else {
             bt5api_hook(module);
         }
@@ -2164,9 +2173,13 @@ int main_implementation(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     // layeredfs
     if (fileutils::dir_exists("data_mods") &&
         GetModuleHandleA("ifs_hook.dll") == nullptr) {
-        log_warning("launcher", "data_mods directory was found, but ifs_hook.dll is not present; your mods will not load");
-        log_warning("launcher", "to fix this, download ifs_layeredfs and add it as a DLL hook (-k)");
-        log_warning("launcher", "https://github.com/mon/ifs_layeredfs");
+        log_warning("launcher", "data_mods directory found, but ifs_hook.dll is not present; mods will not load");
+        deferredlogs::defer_error_messages({
+            "data_mods directory was found, but ifs_hook.dll is not present",
+            "    your mods will not load",
+            "    to fix this, download ifs_layeredfs and add it as a DLL hook (-k)",
+            "    https://github.com/mon/ifs_layeredfs"
+            });
     }
 
     // apply patches
diff --git a/src/spice2x/util/deferlog.cpp b/src/spice2x/util/deferlog.cpp
index 0bfa15f..a9f165d 100644
--- a/src/spice2x/util/deferlog.cpp
+++ b/src/spice2x/util/deferlog.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include <mutex>
 #include <atomic>
 
+#include "build/defs.h"
 #include "deferlog.h"
 #include "util/logging.h"
 
@@ -39,27 +40,36 @@ namespace deferredlogs {
                 errors = std::move(deferred_errors);
             }
 
-            log_warning("troubleshooter", "/------------------------ spice2x auto-troubleshooter ------------------------\\");
-            log_warning("troubleshooter", "");
+            std::string msg;
+            msg += "\n\n";
+            msg += "/-------------------------- spice2x auto-troubleshooter -----------------------\\\n";
+            msg += "\n";
+            msg += "  spice2x version: " + to_string(VERSION_STRING_CFG) + "\n";
+            msg += "\n";
             
             if (is_crash) {
-                log_warning("troubleshooter", "  the game has crashed");
-                log_warning("troubleshooter", "      share this entire log file with someone for troubleshooting");
-                log_warning("troubleshooter", "      spice will also attempt to create a minidump (minidump.dmp)");
-                log_warning("troubleshooter", "");
+                msg += "  the game has crashed\n";
+                msg += "      share this entire log file with someone for troubleshooting (log.txt)\n";
+                msg += "      spice will also attempt to create a minidump (minidump.dmp)\n";
+                msg += "\n";
             }
 
             for (auto messages : errors) {
                 for (auto message : messages) {
-                    log_warning("troubleshooter", "  {}", message);
+                    msg += "  " + message + "\n";
                 }
-                log_warning("troubleshooter", "");
+                msg += "\n";
             }
 
-            log_warning("troubleshooter", "  unsure what to do next? check the FAQ:");
-            log_warning("troubleshooter", "      https://github.com/spice2x/spice2x.github.io/wiki/Known-issues");
-            log_warning("troubleshooter", "");
-            log_warning("troubleshooter", "\\------------------------ spice2x auto-troubleshooter -----------------------/");
+            msg += "  unsure what to do next?\n";
+            msg += "    * update to the latest version:\n";
+            msg += "        https://github.com/spice2x/spice2x.github.io/releases/latest\n";
+            msg += "    * check the FAQ:\n";
+            msg += "        https://github.com/spice2x/spice2x.github.io/wiki/Known-issues\n";
+            msg += "\n";
+            msg += "\\------------------------- spice2x auto-troubleshooter ------------------------/\n";
+
+            log_warning("troubleshooter", "{}", msg);
         });
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/spice2x/util/utils.h b/src/spice2x/util/utils.h
index 4001f91..52d1132 100644
--- a/src/spice2x/util/utils.h
+++ b/src/spice2x/util/utils.h
@@ -283,7 +283,8 @@ static inline std::string get_last_error_string() {
     LPSTR messageBuffer = nullptr;
     size_t size = FormatMessageA(FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER |
                                  FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |
-                                 FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS,
+                                 FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS |
+                                 FORMAT_MESSAGE_MAX_WIDTH_MASK,
                                  nullptr,
                                  error,
                                  MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT),
@@ -292,7 +293,12 @@ static inline std::string get_last_error_string() {
                                  nullptr);
 
     // return as string
-    std::string message(messageBuffer, size);
+    std::string message;
+    if (size == 0) {
+        message = fmt::format("(Win32 error {})", error);
+    } else {
+        message = fmt::format("{}(Win32 error {})", messageBuffer, error);
+    }
     LocalFree(messageBuffer);
 
     return message;