diff --git a/Libs/Application/Job/PythonWorker.cpp b/Libs/Application/Job/PythonWorker.cpp
index e2169cb862..00a46e50fa 100644
--- a/Libs/Application/Job/PythonWorker.cpp
+++ b/Libs/Application/Job/PythonWorker.cpp
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ using namespace pybind11::literals;  // to bring in the `_a` literal
 #include <QThread>
 #include <iostream>
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include <windows.h>
+#endif
+
 namespace shapeworks {
 
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -207,6 +211,21 @@ bool PythonWorker::init() {
 
     qputenv("PATH", path.toUtf8());
     SW_LOG("Setting PATH for Python to: " + path.toStdString());
+
+    // Python 3.8+ requires explicit DLL directory registration
+    // PATH environment variable is no longer used for DLL search
+    SetDefaultDllDirectories(LOAD_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DEFAULT_DIRS | LOAD_LIBRARY_SEARCH_USER_DIRS);
+
+    // Add the Library\bin directory where conda keeps DLLs like libexpat.dll
+    QString library_bin = python_home + "/Library/bin";
+    AddDllDirectory(library_bin.toStdWString().c_str());
+
+    // Also add the DLLs directory
+    QString dlls_dir = python_home + "/DLLs";
+    AddDllDirectory(dlls_dir.toStdWString().c_str());
+
+    // And the base python home
+    AddDllDirectory(python_home.toStdWString().c_str());
   }
 #endif  // ifdef _WIN32
 
diff --git a/Support/package_windows.sh b/Support/package_windows.sh
index 592b136490..5645b15ebe 100755
--- a/Support/package_windows.sh
+++ b/Support/package_windows.sh
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ ROOT=`pwd`
 
 BUILD="/c/build"
 CONDA_LOC="/c/Miniconda/envs/shapeworks"
-cp ${CONDA_LOC}/python*.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/zlib.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/tbb12.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/zstd.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/libpng16.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/half.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/boost_filesystem.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/spdlog.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/*ffi*.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/libbz2.dll $BUILD/bin/Release
+
+ls -la ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin
+
+cp ${CONDA_LOC}/python*.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/zlib.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/tbb12.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/zstd.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/libpng16.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/half.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/boost_filesystem.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/spdlog.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/*ffi*.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/libbz2.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/libssl-3-x64.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/libcrypto-3-x64.dll ${CONDA_LOC}/Library/bin/pcre2-16.dll $BUILD/bin/Release
 
 # install visual studio redistributables
 WIN_DIR="/c/Windows/system32"
diff --git a/install_shapeworks.bat b/install_shapeworks.bat
index 3bfc921859..b8efaf2593 100644
--- a/install_shapeworks.bat
+++ b/install_shapeworks.bat
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ call conda config --add channels anaconda
 call conda config --add channels conda-forge
 
 REM install shapeworks deps
-call conda create --yes --name %CONDAENV% python=3.9.13 pip=22.1.2 openssl==1.1.1w || goto :error
+call conda create --yes --name %CONDAENV% python=3.12 pip=24.3.1 openssl==0.3.30 || goto :error
 call conda activate %CONDAENV%
 
 REM reactivate shapeworks environment
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ call conda activate %CONDAENV%
 call python -m pip install -r python_requirements.txt || goto :error
 
 REM install ptorch using light-the-torch
-call ltt install torch==1.11.0 || goto :error
+call ltt install torch==2.2.2 || goto :error
 
 REM different versions of open3d for different OSes, so we install it manually here
-call pip install open3d==0.17.0 || goto :error
+call pip install open3d==0.19.0 || goto :error
 
 call pip install Python/DatasetUtilsPackage.tar.gz || goto :error
 call pip install Python/DocumentationUtilsPackage.tar.gz || goto :error