diff --git a/src/modules/punk/mix/base-0.1.tm b/src/modules/punk/mix/base-0.1.tm
index eb1e1c5e..ba24f31d 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/mix/base-0.1.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/mix/base-0.1.tm
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ namespace eval punk::mix::base {
             if {$opt_use_tar != 0} {
                 set target [file tail $path]
                 set tmplocation [punk::mix::util::tmpdir]
-                set archivename $tmplocation/[punk::mix::util::tmpfile].tar
+                set archivename $tmplocation/[punk::mix::util::tmpfile].tar ;#generates a unique filename - does not create the file.
 
                 cd $base ;#cd is process-wide.. keep cd in effect for as small a scope as possible. (review for thread issues)
 
@@ -687,14 +687,38 @@ namespace eval punk::mix::base {
                 set tsstart [clock millis]
                 if {[set tarpath [auto_execok tar]] ne ""} {
                     #using an external binary is *significantly* faster than tar::create - but comes with some risks
-                    #review - need to check behaviour/flag variances across platforms
+                    set versioninfo [exec {*}$tarpath --version]
+                    #look for "bsdtar" vs "GNU"
+                    #GNU tar is more common on linux - but also available on windows via gnuutils or msys
+                    #<system32>/tar.exe on windows is likely to be bsdtar.
+                    #GNU tar on windows will commonly fail with 'cannot connect to C: resolve failed' - may need --force-local flag
+
+                    #review - need to further check behaviour/flag variances across platforms
                     #don't use -z flag. On at least some tar versions the zipped file will contain a timestamped subfolder of filename.tar - which ruins the checksum
                     #also - tar is generally faster without the compression (although this may vary depending on file size and disk speed?)
-                    exec {*}$tarpath -cf $archivename $target ;#{*} needed in case spaces in tarpath
-                    set tsend [clock millis]
-                    set ms [expr {$tsend - $tsstart}]
-                    puts stdout " tar -cf done ($ms ms)"
-                } else {
+
+                    if {[string match "*GNU*" $versioninfo]} {
+                        set flags "--force-local"
+                    } else {
+                        #presumably bsdtar - which is more likely to be present on windows - and doesn't seem to have the same issue with drive letters in paths
+                        set flags ""
+                    }
+                    if {[catch {
+                        #{*}$tarpath needed in case spaces in tarpath
+                        exec {*}$tarpath -cf {*}$flags $archivename $target
+                    } errMsg]} {
+                        set tsend [clock millis]
+                        set ms [expr {$tsend - $tsstart}]
+                        puts stdout " 'tar -cf $flags' ERROR ($ms ms) - falling back to tar::create\n error info: $errMsg"
+                    } else {
+                        set tsend [clock millis]
+                        set ms [expr {$tsend - $tsstart}]
+                        puts stdout " 'tar -cf $flags' done ($ms ms)"
+                    }
+                }
+
+                if {![file exists $archivename]} {
+                    #fallback to tar library approach if external tar failed to create the archive.
                     set tsstart [clock millis] ;#don't include auto_exec search time for tar::create
                     tar::create $archivename $target
                     set tsend [clock millis]
@@ -703,6 +727,7 @@ namespace eval punk::mix::base {
                     puts stdout " NOTE: install tar executable for potentially *much* faster directory checksum processing"
                 }
 
+
                 if {$ftype eq "file"} {
                     set sizeinfo "(size [punk::lib::format_number [file size $target]] bytes)"
                 } else {
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/repo-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/repo-999999.0a1.0.tm
index c145de0f..de3bd201 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/repo-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/repo-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -83,34 +83,38 @@ namespace eval punk::repo {
 
     proc get_fossil_usage {} {
         set allcmds [runout -n fossil help -a]
+        set allcmds [punk::ansi::ansistrip $allcmds]
         set mainhelp [runout -n fossil help]
+        set mainhelp [punk::ansi::ansistrip $mainhelp]
         set maincommands [list]
 
         #only start parsing for TOPICS after a line such as "Other comman values for TOPIC:"
         set parsing_topics 0
         foreach ln [split $mainhelp \n] {
             set ln [string trim $ln]
-                if {$ln eq ""} {
-                    continue
-                }
-                if {[string match "*values for TOPIC*" $ln]} {
-                    set parsing_topics 1
+            if {$ln eq ""} {
+                continue
+            }
+            if {[string match "*values for TOPIC*" $ln]} {
+                set parsing_topics 1
+                continue
+            }
+            if {$parsing_topics} {
+                #lines starting with uppercase are topic headers - we want to ignore these and any blank lines
+                if {[regexp {^[A-Z]+} $ln]} {
                     continue
                 }
-                if {$parsing_topics} {
-                    #lines starting with uppercase are topic headers - we want to ignore these and any blank lines
-                    if {[regexp {^[A-Z]+} $ln]} {
-                        continue
-                    }
-                    lappend maincommands {*}$ln
-                }
+                lappend maincommands {*}$ln
+            }
         }
         #fossil output was ordered in columns, but we loaded list in row-wise, messing up the order
         set maincommands [lsort $maincommands]
         set allcmds [lsort $allcmds]
         set othercmds [punk::lib::ldiff $allcmds $maincommands]
 
-        set fossil_setting_names [lsort [runout -n fossil help -s]]
+        set setting_info [runout -n fossil help -s]
+        set setting_info [punk::ansi::ansistrip $setting_info]
+        set fossil_setting_names [lsort $setting_info]
 
         set result "@leaders -min 0\n"
 
@@ -186,6 +190,8 @@ namespace eval punk::repo {
 
         foreach ln $basic_opt_lines {
             set ln [string trim $ln]
+            #fossil sometimes emits cursor control sequences e.g CSI 3 q
+            set ln [punk::ansi::ansistrip $ln]
             if {$ln eq ""} {
                 continue
             }
@@ -250,6 +256,7 @@ namespace eval punk::repo {
             ${[punk::repo::get_fossil_subcommand_usage add]}
 
             @form -form "raw" -synopsis "exec fossil add \[OPTIONS\] FILE1 \[FILE2\]..."
+            #fossil help may have ansi - review
             @formdisplay -header "fossil help add" -body {${[runout -n fossil help add]}}
         } ""]
 
@@ -264,6 +271,7 @@ namespace eval punk::repo {
             ${[punk::repo::get_fossil_subcommand_usage diff]}
 
             @form -form "raw" -synopsis "exec fossil diff \[OPTIONS\] FILE1 \[FILE2\]..."
+            #fossil help may have ansi - review
             @formdisplay -header "fossil help diff" -body {${[runout -n fossil help diff]}}
         } ""]