diff --git a/art.bat b/art.bat
index d710f3784454e97e8068b9ec519b847e27c3a81a..9b3ee5df22a9fdbcf5148e22350a10572a0cdb8d 100644
--- a/art.bat
+++ b/art.bat
@@ -1,2 +1,9 @@
-@java uk.ac.sanger.artemis.components.ArtemisMain
+@echo off
+
+REM
+REM Batch file for starting Artemis on windows
+REM
+
+REM execute Artemis
+start javaw -classpath .;lib\biojava.jar;lib\jobcontrol.jar;lib\jemAlign.jar uk.ac.sanger.artemis.components.ArtemisMain