diff --git a/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater.coffee b/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater.coffee
index 8b6f7ffd0d30..c039bd12dc46 100644
--- a/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater.coffee
+++ b/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater.coffee
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
-autoUpdater = process.atomBinding('auto_updater').autoUpdater
-EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter
-
-autoUpdater.__proto__ = EventEmitter.prototype
+switch process.platform
+  when 'win32'
+    autoUpdater = require './auto-updater/auto-updater-win'
+  else
+    # take the default binding for the current platform
+    autoUpdater  = process.atomBinding('auto_updater').autoUpdater
+    EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter
+    autoUpdater.__proto__ = EventEmitter.prototype
 
 autoUpdater.on 'update-downloaded-raw', (args...) ->
   args[3] = new Date(args[3])  # releaseDate
diff --git a/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater/auto-updater-win.coffee b/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater/auto-updater-win.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..764f76a2253f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater/auto-updater-win.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+{EventEmitter} = require 'events'
+SquirrelUpdate = require './auto-updater/squirrel-update-win'
+app            = require 'app'
+url            = require 'url'
+
+class AutoUpdater extends EventEmitter
+
+  quitAndInstall: ->
+    SquirrelUpdate.processStart ->
+      app.quit()
+
+  setFeedUrl: (updateUrl) ->
+    # set feed URL only when it hasn't been set before
+    unless @updateUrl
+      @updateUrl = updateUrl
+
+  checkForUpdates: ->
+    throw new Error('Update URL is not set') unless @updateUrl
+
+    @emit 'checking-for-update'
+
+    unless SquirrelUpdate.supported()
+      @emit 'update-not-available'
+      return
+
+    SquirrelUpdate.download (error, update) =>
+      if error?
+        @emit 'update-not-available'
+        return
+
+      unless update?
+        @emit 'update-not-available'
+        return
+
+      @emit 'update-available'
+
+      SquirrelUpdate.update @updateUrl, (error) =>
+        if error?
+          @emit 'update-not-available'
+          return
+
+        # info about the newly installed version and a function any of the event listeners can call to restart the application
+        @emit 'update-downloaded', {}, update.releaseNotes, update.version, new Date(), @updateUrl, => @quitAndInstall()
+
+module.exports = new AutoUpdater()
diff --git a/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater/squirrel-update-win.coffee b/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater/squirrel-update-win.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..95d9e1465d8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater/squirrel-update-win.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+ChildProcess = require 'child_process'
+fs           = require 'fs'
+path         = require 'path'
+
+appFolder             = path.dirname process.execPath # i.e. my-app/app-0.1.13/
+rootApplicationFolder = path.resolve appFolder, '..'  # i.e. my-app/
+updateDotExe          = path.join rootApplicationFolder, 'Update.exe'
+exeName               = path.basename process.execPath
+
+# Spawn a command and invoke the callback when it completes with an error
+# and the output from standard out.
+spawnUpdate = (args, callback) ->
+  stdout = ''
+
+  try
+    spawnedProcess = ChildProcess.spawn(updateDotExe, args)
+  catch error
+    # Spawn can throw an error
+    process.nextTick -> callback?(error, stdout)
+    return
+
+  spawnedProcess.stdout.on 'data', (data) -> stdout += data
+
+  error = null
+  spawnedProcess.on 'error', (processError) -> error ?= processError
+  spawnedProcess.on 'close', (code, signal) ->
+    error ?= new Error("Command failed: #{signal ? code}") if code isnt 0
+    error?.code ?= code
+    error?.stdout ?= stdout
+    callback?(error, stdout)
+
+processStart = (callback) ->
+  spawnUpdate(['--processStart', exeName], callback)
+
+download = (callback) ->
+  spawnUpdate ['--download', @updateUrl], (error, stdout) ->
+    return callback(error) if error?
+
+    try
+      # Last line of output is the JSON details about the releases
+      json   = stdout.trim().split('\n').pop()
+      update = JSON.parse(json)?.releasesToApply?.pop?()
+    catch error
+      error.stdout = stdout
+      return callback(error)
+
+    callback(null, update)
+
+update = (updateUrl, callback) ->
+  spawnUpdate ['--update', updateUrl], callback
+
+# Is the Update.exe installed with the current application?
+exports.supported = ->
+  fs.accessSync(updateDotExe, fs.R_OK)
+exports.processStart = processStart
+exports.download     = download
+exports.update       = update
diff --git a/filenames.gypi b/filenames.gypi
index 1c52cf50b2ae..389c245ffa8a 100644
--- a/filenames.gypi
+++ b/filenames.gypi
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
       'atom/browser/api/lib/app.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/atom-delegate.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater.coffee',
+      'atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater/auto-updater-win.coffee',
+      'atom/browser/api/lib/auto-updater/squirrel-update-win.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/browser-window.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/content-tracing.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/dialog.coffee',