diff --git a/platform/sdl/sdl_context.cpp b/platform/sdl/sdl_context.cpp
index 58ea510..bb95bda 100644
--- a/platform/sdl/sdl_context.cpp
+++ b/platform/sdl/sdl_context.cpp
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ SDLContext::SDLContext() {
 void handle_sdl_error(const char *msg) {
     char buff[512];
 
-    snprintf(buff, sizeof(buff), "SDL critical error (check video driver): %s %s",msg, SDL_GetError());
+    snprintf(buff, sizeof(buff), "SDL critical error: %s %s",msg, SDL_GetError());
     throw std::runtime_error(buff);
 }
 
diff --git a/platform/windows/app_start.cpp b/platform/windows/app_start.cpp
index 8ecc5a9..0149e4e 100644
--- a/platform/windows/app_start.cpp
+++ b/platform/windows/app_start.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "../../game/skeldal.h"
 #include "../getopt.h"
 #include "../platform.h"
+#include "../error.h"
 #include <iostream>
 #include <string>
 #include <sstream>
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         }
 
     } catch (const std::exception &e) {
-        cfg.show_error(e.what());
+        cfg.show_error(exception_to_string(e).c_str());
         return 1;
     }
     catch (...) {