diff --git a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
index 66b5311bbf..1e006483af 100644
--- a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
+++ b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
@@ -811,7 +811,13 @@ def start_evennia(pprofiler=False, sprofiler=False):
     def _portal_not_running(fail):
         print("Portal starting {}...".format("(under cProfile)" if pprofiler else ""))
         try:
-            Popen(portal_cmd, env=getenv(), bufsize=-1)
+            if os.name == 'nt':
+                # Windows requires special care
+                create_no_window = 0x08000000
+                Popen(portal_cmd, env=getenv(), bufsize=-1,
+                      createflags=create_no_window)
+            else:
+                Popen(portal_cmd, env=getenv(), bufsize=-1)
         except Exception as e:
             print(PROCESS_ERROR.format(component="Portal", traceback=e))
             _reactor_stop()
diff --git a/evennia/server/portal/amp_server.py b/evennia/server/portal/amp_server.py
index 6fa671e886..a11b52d58b 100644
--- a/evennia/server/portal/amp_server.py
+++ b/evennia/server/portal/amp_server.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import os
 import sys
 from twisted.internet import protocol
 from evennia.server.portal import amp
+from django.conf import settings
 from subprocess import Popen, STDOUT, PIPE
 from evennia.utils import logger
 
@@ -150,21 +151,32 @@ class AMPServerProtocol(amp.AMPMultiConnectionProtocol):
 
         """
         # start the Server
-        try:
-            process = Popen(server_twistd_cmd, env=getenv(), bufsize=-1, stdout=PIPE, stderr=STDOUT)
-        except Exception:
-            self.factory.portal.server_process_id = None
-            logger.log_trace()
-            return 0
-        # there is a short window before the server logger is up where we must
-        # catch the stdout of the Server or eventual tracebacks will be lost.
-        with process.stdout as out:
-            logger.log_server(out.read())
+        with open(settings.SERVER_LOG_FILE, 'a') as logfile:
+            try:
+                if os.name == 'nt':
+                    # Windows requires special care
+                    create_no_window = 0x08000000
+                    process = Popen(server_twistd_cmd, env=getenv(), bufsize=-1,
+                                    stdout=logfile, stderr=STDOUT,
+                                    creationflags=create_no_window)
+                else:
+                    process = Popen(server_twistd_cmd, env=getenv(), bufsize=-1,
+                                    stdout=logfile, stderr=STDOUT)
+            except Exception:
+                self.factory.portal.server_process_id = None
+                logger.log_trace()
+                logfile.flush()
+                return 0
+            # there is a short window before the server logger is up where we must
+            # catch the stdout of the Server or eventual tracebacks will be lost.
+            # with process.stdout as out:
+            #     logger.log_server(out.readlines())
 
-        # store the pid and launch argument for future reference
-        self.factory.portal.server_process_id = process.pid
-        self.factory.portal.server_twistd_cmd = server_twistd_cmd
-        return process.pid
+            # store the pid and launch argument for future reference
+            self.factory.portal.server_process_id = process.pid
+            self.factory.portal.server_twistd_cmd = server_twistd_cmd
+            logfile.flush()
+            return process.pid
 
     def wait_for_disconnect(self, callback, *args, **kwargs):
         """
diff --git a/evennia/server/portal/portal.py b/evennia/server/portal/portal.py
index 27034f5785..6645f8964d 100644
--- a/evennia/server/portal/portal.py
+++ b/evennia/server/portal/portal.py
@@ -184,8 +184,8 @@ class Portal(object):
 application = service.Application('Portal')
 
 # custom logging
-logfile = settings.SERVER_LOG_FILE if settings.MERGE_LOGS else settings.PORTAL_LOG_FILE
-logfile = logger.WeeklyLogFile(os.path.basename(logfile), os.path.dirname(logfile))
+logfile = logger.WeeklyLogFile(os.path.basename(settings.PORTAL_LOG_FILE),
+                               os.path.dirname(settings.PORTAL_LOG_FILE))
 application.setComponent(ILogObserver, logger.PortalLogObserver(logfile).emit)
 
 # The main Portal server program. This sets up the database
diff --git a/evennia/settings_default.py b/evennia/settings_default.py
index 3bb2b504aa..2b6bb55584 100644
--- a/evennia/settings_default.py
+++ b/evennia/settings_default.py
@@ -134,8 +134,6 @@ LOG_DIR = os.path.join(GAME_DIR, 'server', 'logs')
 SERVER_LOG_FILE = os.path.join(LOG_DIR, 'server.log')
 PORTAL_LOG_FILE = os.path.join(LOG_DIR, 'portal.log')
 HTTP_LOG_FILE = os.path.join(LOG_DIR, 'http_requests.log')
-# if this is true, merge logs into only the SERVER_LOG_FILE location.
-MERGE_LOGS = True
 # if this is set to the empty string, lockwarnings will be turned off.
 LOCKWARNING_LOG_FILE = os.path.join(LOG_DIR, 'lockwarnings.log')
 # Rotate log files when server and/or portal stops. This will keep log