diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 128e8e0b0a..238f3af68f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@
     "eslint-plugin-cypress-dev": "^1.0.0",
     "eslint-plugin-mocha": "^4.11.0",
     "eslint-plugin-react": "^7.3.0",
+    "execa": "^0.8.0",
     "filesize": "^3.5.10",
     "fs-extra": "^2.1.2",
     "gulp": "^3.9.1",
diff --git a/packages/electron/lib/install.coffee b/packages/electron/lib/install.coffee
index 0af52fd57b..9de42e6d37 100644
--- a/packages/electron/lib/install.coffee
+++ b/packages/electron/lib/install.coffee
@@ -76,8 +76,11 @@ module.exports = {
     pkgr(options)
     .then (appPaths) ->
       appPaths[0]
+    # Promise.resolve("tmp\\Cypress-win32-x64")
     .then (appPath) =>
       ## and now move the tmp into dist
+      console.log("moving created file from", appPath)
+      console.log("to", options.dist)
       @move(appPath, options.dist)
 
     .catch (err) ->
diff --git a/scripts/binary/build.coffee b/scripts/binary/build.coffee
index 322b089ec0..6505c7b90d 100644
--- a/scripts/binary/build.coffee
+++ b/scripts/binary/build.coffee
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ electron = require("@packages/electron")
 signOsxApp = require("electron-osx-sign")
 debug = require("debug")("cypress:binary")
 R = require("ramda")
+la = require("lazy-ass")
+check = require("check-more-types")
+execa = require("execa")
 
 meta = require("./meta")
 smoke = require("./smoke")
@@ -48,6 +51,16 @@ buildCypressApp = (platform, version, options = {}) ->
 
   log = _.partialRight(logger, platform)
 
+  testVersion = (folderNameFn) -> () ->
+    dir = folderNameFn()
+    la(check.unemptyString(dir), "missing folder for platform", platform)
+    console.log("testing package version in folder", dir)
+    execa("node", ["index.js", "--version"], {
+      cwd: dir
+    }).then (result) ->
+      # TODO validate version string
+      console.log(result.stdout)
+
   canBuildInDocker = ->
     platform is "linux" and os.platform() is "darwin"
 
@@ -74,7 +87,9 @@ buildCypressApp = (platform, version, options = {}) ->
       log("skipClean")
       return
 
-    cleanup = =>
+    cleanup = ->
+      dir = distDir()
+      la(check.unemptyString(dir), "empty dist dir", dir, "for platform", platform)
       fs.removeAsync(distDir())
 
     cleanup()
@@ -199,6 +214,9 @@ buildCypressApp = (platform, version, options = {}) ->
     # hint: you can see all symlinks in the build folder
     # using "find build/darwin/Cypress.app/ -type l -ls"
     electronDistFolder = meta.buildAppDir(platform, "packages", "electron", "dist")
+    la(check.unemptyString(electronDistFolder),
+      "empty electron dist folder for platform", platform)
+
     console.log("Removing unnecessary folder #{electronDistFolder}")
     fs.removeAsync(electronDistFolder).catch(_.noop)
 
@@ -217,6 +235,7 @@ buildCypressApp = (platform, version, options = {}) ->
 
   codeSign = ->
     if platform isnt "darwin"
+      # do we need to code sign on Windows?
       return Promise.resolve()
 
     appFolder = meta.zipDir(platform)
@@ -244,18 +263,20 @@ buildCypressApp = (platform, version, options = {}) ->
 
   Promise.resolve()
   .then(checkPlatform)
-  # .then(cleanupPlatform)
-  # .then(buildPackages)
-  # .then(copyPackages)
-  # .then(npmInstallPackages)
+  .then(cleanupPlatform)
+  .then(buildPackages)
+  .then(copyPackages)
+  .then(npmInstallPackages)
   .then(createRootPackage)
   .then(copyPackageProxies(distDir))
   .then(convertCoffeeToJs)
   .then(removeTypeScript)
   .then(cleanJs)
-  .then(elBuilder)
+  .then(testVersion(distDir))
+  .then(elBuilder) # should we delete everything in the buildDir()?
   .then(removeDevElectronApp)
   .then(copyPackageProxies(buildAppDir))
+  .then(testVersion(buildAppDir))
   .then(runSmokeTests)
   .then(codeSign) ## codesign after running smoke tests due to changing .cy
   .then(verifyAppCanOpen)
diff --git a/scripts/binary/meta.coffee b/scripts/binary/meta.coffee
index 668bbe7ffd..c17e84caf0 100644
--- a/scripts/binary/meta.coffee
+++ b/scripts/binary/meta.coffee
@@ -12,14 +12,17 @@ platforms = {
 
 isValidPlatform = check.oneOf(R.values(platforms))
 
+checkPlatform = (platform) ->
+  la(isValidPlatform(platform),
+    "invalid build platform", platform, "valid choices", R.values(platforms))
+
 ## returns a path into the /build directory
 ## the output folder should look something like this
 ## build/
 ##   <platform>/ = linux or darwin
 ##     ... platform-specific files
 buildDir = (platform, args...) ->
-  la(isValidPlatform(platform),
-    "invalid build platform", platform, "valid choices", R.values(platforms))
+  checkPlatform(platform)
   switch platform
     when "darwin"
       path.resolve("build", platform, args...)
@@ -30,31 +33,41 @@ buildDir = (platform, args...) ->
 
 ## returns a path into the /dist directory
 distDir = (platform, args...) ->
+  checkPlatform(platform)
   path.resolve("dist", platform, args...)
 
 ## returns folder to zip before uploading
 zipDir = (platform) ->
+  checkPlatform(platform)
   switch platform
     when "darwin"
       buildDir(platform, "Cypress.app")
     when "linux"
       buildDir(platform)
+    when "win32"
+      buildDir(platform)
 
 ## returns a path into the /build/*/app directory
 ## specific to each platform
 buildAppDir = (platform, args...) ->
+  checkPlatform(platform)
   switch platform
     when "darwin"
       buildDir(platform, "Cypress.app", "Contents", "resources", "app", args...)
     when "linux"
       buildDir(platform, "resources", "app", args...)
+    when "win32"
+      buildDir(platform, "resources", "app", args...)
 
 buildAppExecutable = (platform) ->
+  checkPlatform(platform)
   switch platform
     when "darwin"
       buildDir(platform, "Cypress.app", "Contents", "MacOS", "Cypress")
     when "linux"
       buildDir(platform, "Cypress")
+    when "win32"
+      buildDir(platform, "Cypress")
 
 module.exports = {
   isValidPlatform
diff --git a/scripts/binary/smoke.coffee b/scripts/binary/smoke.coffee
index 6995205cb7..916984e4e0 100644
--- a/scripts/binary/smoke.coffee
+++ b/scripts/binary/smoke.coffee
@@ -3,15 +3,25 @@ fse = require("fs-extra")
 cp = require("child_process")
 path = require("path")
 Promise = require("bluebird")
+os = require("os")
 Fixtures = require("../../packages/server/test/support/helpers/fixtures")
 
 fs = Promise.promisifyAll(fse)
 
+canRecordVideo = () ->
+  os.platform() != "win32"
+
 runSmokeTest = (buildAppExecutable) ->
   new Promise (resolve, reject) ->
     rand = "" + Math.random()
     console.log("executable path #{buildAppExecutable}")
 
+    hasRightResponse = (stdout) ->
+      # there could be more debug lines in the output, so find 1 line with
+      # expected random value
+      lines = stdout.split('\n').map((s) -> s.trim())
+      return lines.includes(rand)
+
     cp.exec "#{buildAppExecutable} --smoke-test --ping=#{rand}", (err, stdout, stderr) ->
       stdout = stdout.replace(/\s/, "")
 
@@ -19,7 +29,7 @@ runSmokeTest = (buildAppExecutable) ->
         console.error("smoke test failed with error %s", err.message)
         return reject(err)
 
-      if stdout isnt rand
+      if !hasRightResponse(stdout)
         throw new Error("Stdout: '#{stdout}' did not match the random number: '#{rand}'")
       else
         console.log("smokeTest passes")
@@ -31,8 +41,13 @@ runProjectTest = (buildAppExecutable, e2e) ->
   new Promise (resolve, reject) ->
     env = _.omit(process.env, "CYPRESS_ENV")
 
+    if !canRecordVideo()
+      console.log("cannot record video on this platform yet, disabling")
+      env.CYPRESS_VIDEO_RECORDING = "false"
+
     cp.spawn(buildAppExecutable, [
-      "--run-project=#{e2e}", "--spec=cypress/integration/simple_passing_spec.coffee"
+      "--run-project=#{e2e}",
+      "--spec=cypress/integration/simple_passing_spec.coffee"
     ], {
       stdio: "inherit", env: env
     })