diff --git a/base/source/c/compile_windows_i386.mak b/base/source/c/compile_windows_i386.mak
index 43a643077481501aad879e424d26f1c2a4ccaf54..358d8889872bfc7a4e595468cf719adbef5b9986 100644
--- a/base/source/c/compile_windows_i386.mak
+++ b/base/source/c/compile_windows_i386.mak
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 VCPPDIR=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC
 
 # Directory where JDK is installed (We require JDK 1.5 or above), for example
-JAVADIR=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_15
+JAVADIR=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_22
 
 # Common parent directory
 PARENTDIR=C:\nativeData
diff --git a/base/source/c/compile_windows_x64.mak b/base/source/c/compile_windows_x64.mak
index aebd972d566f7ff0bed824d1ce5f3cb2a70cf70e..111b06c1493acf84d0da2f30781a6821dc6d3f60 100644
--- a/base/source/c/compile_windows_x64.mak
+++ b/base/source/c/compile_windows_x64.mak
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
 #============================================================================
 
 # Visual C++ directory, for example
-VCPPDIR=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC
+VCPPDIR=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC
 
 # Directory where JDK is installed (We require JDK 1.5 or above), for example
-JAVADIR=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_15
+JAVADIR=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_22
 
 # Common parent directory
 PARENTDIR=C:\nativeData
diff --git a/base/source/c/copyCommon.c b/base/source/c/copyCommon.c
index 64fa05a76ee8dc7e6f01fd6a0074fe6adc2c3e16..2c628232e17868e32e0892fffff1716448f25074 100755
--- a/base/source/c/copyCommon.c
+++ b/base/source/c/copyCommon.c
@@ -20,6 +20,17 @@ extern "C" {
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include "jni.h"
 
+/*
+ *   public static native boolean isLittleEndian();
+ */
+JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL Java_ch_systemsx_cisd_base_convert_NativeData_isLittleEndian
+(JNIEnv *env,
+  jclass clss
+  )  
+{
+    return MACHINE_BYTE_ORDER == 1;
+}
+
 /*
  *  A fatal error in a JNI call
  *  Create and throw an 'InternalError'
diff --git a/base/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/base/convert/NativeData.java b/base/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/base/convert/NativeData.java
index bfe67feffb8cc99fb5557ca98601af2c00180c8e..751f7f025c218feb731b46d7b881dd0239421b7e 100644
--- a/base/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/base/convert/NativeData.java
+++ b/base/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/base/convert/NativeData.java
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ public class NativeData
         BIG_ENDIAN,
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns <code>true</code> if this platform is a little-endian platform and <code>false</code>
+     * , if it is a big-endian platform.
+     */
+    static native boolean isLittleEndian();
+
     /**
      * Copies a range from an array of <code>int</code> into an array of <code>byte</code>.
      * 
@@ -234,6 +240,14 @@ public class NativeData
     public static void ensureNativeLibIsLoaded()
     {
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Returns the native byte order of the host running this JRE.
+     */
+    public static ByteOrder getNativeByteOrder()
+    {
+        return isLittleEndian() ? ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN : ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN;
+    }
 
     /**
      * Converts a <code>byte[]</code> array into a <code>short[]</code> array.