diff --git a/packaging/win32/custom.sh b/packaging/win32/custom.sh
index c0884f9465..ee21fb2ef5 100644
--- a/packaging/win32/custom.sh
+++ b/packaging/win32/custom.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 #
 # all directories should be without spaces!
 
+[ "$__SOURCED_CUSTOM_SH" ] && return
+__SOURCED_CUSTOM_SH=1
+
 GLOBAL_DIR=c:\\soft
 TMP_DIR=$GLOBAL_DIR\\tmp
 DOWNLOAD_DIR=$GLOBAL_DIR\\downloads
diff --git a/packaging/win32/functions b/packaging/win32/functions
index 9c5094c02a..05f9ceb33a 100644
--- a/packaging/win32/functions
+++ b/packaging/win32/functions
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+[ "$__SOURCED_FUNCTIONS" ] && return
+__SOURCED_FUNCTIONS=1
+
 function add_step() { steps=("${steps[@]}" "$@"); }
 function quiet() { "$@" &>/dev/null; }
 
diff --git a/packaging/win32/reset.sh b/packaging/win32/reset.sh
index 05c1d19842..cdddc58a08 100644
--- a/packaging/win32/reset.sh
+++ b/packaging/win32/reset.sh
@@ -2,41 +2,122 @@
 
 set -e
 
-echo ""
-echo "This will reset your installation of gnucash."
-echo -n "Are you sure you want to do this?  [y/N] "
-read resp
-case "$resp" in
-  y*|Y*)
-    ;;
-  *)
-    exit 0;
-    ;;
-esac
-
 ####  Load Custom.sh
 
-function add_step() { echo "" >/dev/null; }
 function qpushd() { pushd "$@" >/dev/null; }
 function qpopd() { popd >/dev/null; }
-
-# /c/dir/sub
-function unix_path() {
-    echo "$*" | sed 's,^\([A-Za-z]\):,/\1,;s,\\,/,g'
-}
+function unix_path() { echo "$*" | sed 's,^\([A-Za-z]\):,/\1,;s,\\,/,g'; }
 
 qpushd "$(dirname $(unix_path "$0"))"
+. functions
 . custom.sh
 
+## too bad, bash 2.04 has no real support for arrays
+
+# 0 = get confirmation
+# 1 = delete
+_phase=0
+
+# usage: add_precious_path <step> <path>
+function add_precious_path() {
+    _precious_paths="${_precious_paths} $1|$2"
+}
+
+add_precious_path msys $MSYS_DIR
+add_precious_path wget $WGET_DIR
+add_precious_path svn $SVN_DIR
+add_precious_path repos $REPOS_DIR
+add_precious_path docs $DOCS_DIR
+
+# usage: eval_path <path> <force>
+function eval_path() {
+    if [ "$2" != "force" ]; then
+        for _precious in $_precious_paths; do
+            _prec_step="${_precious%%|*}"
+            _prec_path="${_precious##*|}"
+            _preclen="${#_prec_path}"
+            _dirss="${1:0:${_preclen}}"
+            _dirlen="${#1}"
+            _precss="${_prec_path:0:${_dirlen}}"
+            if [ "$_dirss" = "$_prec_path" -o "$_precss" = "$1" ]; then
+                if [ "$_phase" != "1" ]; then
+                    echo " - will not remove $1 to save $_prec_path ($_prec_step)"
+                fi
+                return
+            fi
+        done
+    fi
+    if [ "$_phase" = "1" ]; then
+        echo rm -rf $1
+        rm -rf $1
+    else
+        echo " * rm -rf $1"
+    fi
+}
+
+function eval_all() {
+    eval_path $UNZIP_DIR
+    eval_path $REGEX_DIR
+    eval_path $READLINE_DIR
+    eval_path $ACTIVE_PERL_DIR
+    eval_path $AUTOTOOLS_DIR
+    eval_path $GUILE_DIR
+    eval_path $OPENSSL_DIR
+    eval_path $MINGW_UTILS_DIR
+    eval_path $EXETYPE_DIR
+    eval_path $LIBXML2_DIR
+    eval_path $GNOME_DIR
+    eval_path $SWIG_DIR
+    eval_path $PCRE_DIR
+    eval_path $LIBGSF_DIR
+    eval_path $GOFFICE_DIR
+    eval_path $GLADE_DIR
+    eval_path $INNO_DIR
+    eval_path $HH_DIR
+    eval_path $OPENSP_DIR
+    eval_path $LIBOFX_DIR
+    eval_path $GWENHYWFAR_DIR
+    eval_path $AQBANKING_DIR
+    eval_path $BUILD_DIR
+    eval_path $INSTALL_DIR
+    eval_path $GNUCASH_DIR\\dist
+    eval_path $TMP_DIR
+    eval_path $MSYS_DIR\\etc\\profile.d\\installer.sh force
+}
+
+echo
+echo "This will reset your installation of gnucash."
+echo "The following tasks will be executed:"
+
+while true; do
+    echo
+    eval_all
+    echo
+    echo -n "Are you sure you want to do this:  Yes, first add safe paths or no?  [y/s/N] "
+    read resp
+    case "$resp" in
+        y*|Y*)
+            _phase=1
+            break
+            ;;
+        s*|S*)
+            echo
+            echo -n "Add safe path (e.g. c:\\\\soft\\\\tmp): "
+            read path
+            [ "$path" ] && add_precious_path user_defined $path
+            ;;
+        *)
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
 ####  Now clear out the install
 
-basedir=`unix_path $GLOBAL_DIR`
-qpushd $basedir
-
-rm -rf regex readline guile pexports gnome swig autotools
-rm -rf libgsf goffice glade gnucash tmp
-
-rm -f /etc/profile.d/installer.sh
+echo
+qpushd $GLOBAL_DIR
+    eval_all
+qpopd
 
 echo "Done"
 exit 0