diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 198ebef..43a2c9d 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "vyla-home",
-  "version": "1.0.2",
+  "version": "1.0.3",
   "description": "Vyla Home Desktop App Launcher",
   "main": "main.js",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/service-manager.js b/service-manager.js
index b66f715..530b2a6 100644
--- a/service-manager.js
+++ b/service-manager.js
@@ -59,11 +59,13 @@ class ServiceManager {
 
     this.logToFile(name, `--- Starting ${name} in ${serviceDir} ---`);
 
-    const child = spawn('node', [scriptPath], {
+    const nodeExecutable = process.env.NODE_EXE || 'node';
+
+    const child = spawn(nodeExecutable, [scriptPath], {
       cwd: serviceDir,
       env,
       stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-      shell: process.platform === 'win32'
+      shell: false
     });
 
     this.processes[name] = {
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index bee0770..5794e6d 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -4222,7 +4222,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "vyla-home"
-version = "1.0.2"
+version = "1.0.3"
 dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index c9c6ba6..caed5b7 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "vyla-home"
-version = "1.0.2"
+version = "1.0.3"
 description = "Vyla Home Desktop App Launcher"
 edition = "2021"
 
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index 7a74839..cf85121 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ struct BackendMessage {
     data: serde_json::Value,
 }
 
-// Helper to remove the \\?\ prefix that Node.js chokes on
 fn clean_path(path: &std::path::Path) -> String {
     let s = path.to_string_lossy().to_string();
     if s.starts_with("\\\\?\\") {
@@ -33,6 +32,72 @@ fn clean_path(path: &std::path::Path) -> String {
     }
 }
 
+fn find_node_binary(app: &tauri::App) -> Option<String> {
+    if let Ok(resource_dir) = app.path().resource_dir() {
+        let candidates = [
+            resource_dir.join("node.exe"),
+            resource_dir.join("bin").join("node.exe"),
+            resource_dir.join("_up_").join("node.exe"),
+        ];
+        for candidate in candidates {
+            if candidate.exists() {
+                return Some(clean_path(&candidate));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    if let Ok(path_var) = std::env::var("PATH") {
+        for p in std::env::split_paths(&path_var) {
+            let candidate = p.join("node.exe");
+            if candidate.exists() {
+                return Some(clean_path(&candidate));
+            }
+            #[cfg(not(windows))]
+            {
+                let candidate_unix = p.join("node");
+                if candidate_unix.exists() {
+                    return Some(clean_path(&candidate_unix));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(windows)]
+    {
+        let default_paths = [
+            r"C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe",
+            r"C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\node.exe",
+        ];
+        for path in default_paths {
+            let candidate = std::path::Path::new(path);
+            if candidate.exists() {
+                return Some(clean_path(candidate));
+            }
+        }
+
+        if let Ok(local_app_data) = std::env::var("LOCALAPPDATA") {
+            let candidate = std::path::PathBuf::from(local_app_data)
+                .join("Programs")
+                .join("nodejs")
+                .join("node.exe");
+            if candidate.exists() {
+                return Some(clean_path(&candidate));
+            }
+        }
+
+        if let Ok(app_data) = std::env::var("APPDATA") {
+            let candidate = std::path::PathBuf::from(app_data)
+                .join("npm")
+                .join("node.exe");
+            if candidate.exists() {
+                return Some(clean_path(&candidate));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    None
+}
+
 fn resolve_script_and_root(app: &tauri::App) -> (String, String) {
     if let Ok(resource_dir) = app.path().resource_dir() {
         debug_log(&format!("Resource dir found: {:?}", resource_dir));
@@ -117,13 +182,28 @@ fn main() {
             debug_log("Webview created");
 
             let (main_js, root_dir) = resolve_script_and_root(app);
+            let node_bin = match find_node_binary(app) {
+                Some(bin) => bin,
+                None => {
+                    debug_log("Node.js runtime not found anywhere");
+                    let _ = window.emit(
+                        "error",
+                        serde_json::json!({
+                            "message": "Node.js runtime not found on this system. Please install Node.js (https://nodejs.org) and restart Vyla Home."
+                        }),
+                    );
+                    return Ok(());
+                }
+            };
 
+            debug_log(&format!("Using Node binary: {}", node_bin));
             debug_log(&format!("Spawning node with script: {}", main_js));
 
-            let mut cmd = Command::new("node");
+            let mut cmd = Command::new(&node_bin);
             cmd.arg(&main_js)
                 .current_dir(&root_dir)
                 .env("APPDATA_PATH", &app_data_str)
+                .env("NODE_EXE", &node_bin)
                 .stdout(Stdio::piped())
                 .stderr(Stdio::piped());
 
@@ -172,6 +252,12 @@ fn main() {
                 }
                 Err(e) => {
                     debug_log(&format!("FAILED to spawn Node: {}", e));
+                    let _ = window.emit(
+                        "error",
+                        serde_json::json!({
+                            "message": format!("Failed to launch backend runtime: {}", e)
+                        }),
+                    );
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
index f997416..7f199b7 100644
--- a/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
+++ b/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
     "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tauri-apps/tauri/dev/tooling/cli/schema.json",
     "productName": "Vyla Home",
-    "version": "1.0.2",
+    "version": "1.0.3",
     "identifier": "com.vyla.home",
     "build": {
         "frontendDist": "../ui"