diff --git a/.github/workflows/audit.yaml b/.github/workflows/audit.yaml
index de82a31c06..93e71537ef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/audit.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/audit.yaml
@@ -17,10 +17,16 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   # Run audits on all the packages in the built-in repository
   package-audits:
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.operating_system }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.system.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        operating_system: ["ubuntu-latest", "macos-latest"]
+        system:
+        - { os: windows-latest, shell: 'powershell Invoke-Expression -Command "./share/spack/qa/windows_test_setup.ps1"; {0}' }
+        - { os: ubuntu-latest, shell: bash }
+        - { os: macos-latest, shell: bash }
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        shell: ${{ matrix.system.shell }}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@9bb56186c3b09b4f86b1c65136769dd318469633
     - uses: actions/setup-python@82c7e631bb3cdc910f68e0081d67478d79c6982d
@@ -29,20 +35,32 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install Python packages
       run: |
         pip install --upgrade pip setuptools pytest coverage[toml]
+    - name: Setup for Windows run
+      if: runner.os == 'Windows'
+      run: |
+        python -m pip install --upgrade pywin32
     - name: Package audits (with coverage)
-      if: ${{ inputs.with_coverage == 'true' }}
+      if: ${{ inputs.with_coverage == 'true' && runner.os != 'Windows' }}
       run: |
           . share/spack/setup-env.sh
           coverage run $(which spack) audit packages
-          coverage run $(which spack) -d audit externals        
+          coverage run $(which spack) -d audit externals
           coverage combine
           coverage xml
     - name: Package audits (without coverage)
-      if: ${{ inputs.with_coverage == 'false' }}
+      if: ${{ inputs.with_coverage == 'false' && runner.os != 'Windows' }}
       run: |
-          . share/spack/setup-env.sh
-          $(which spack) audit packages
-          $(which spack) audit externals
+          . share/spack/setup-env.sh          
+          spack -d audit packages
+          spack -d audit externals
+    - name: Package audits (without coverage)
+      if: ${{ runner.os == 'Windows' }}
+      run: |
+          . share/spack/setup-env.sh          
+          spack -d audit packages
+          ./share/spack/qa/validate_last_exit.ps1
+          spack -d audit externals
+          ./share/spack/qa/validate_last_exit.ps1
     - uses: codecov/codecov-action@84508663e988701840491b86de86b666e8a86bed
       if: ${{ inputs.with_coverage == 'true' }}
       with:
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/audit.py b/lib/spack/spack/audit.py
index 96225fd6ac..6d3a63c8a6 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/audit.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/audit.py
@@ -1046,7 +1046,7 @@ def _extracts_errors(triggers, summary):
     group="externals",
     tag="PKG-EXTERNALS",
     description="Sanity checks for external software detection",
-    kwargs=("pkgs",),
+    kwargs=("pkgs", "debug_log"),
 )
 
 
@@ -1069,7 +1069,7 @@ def packages_with_detection_tests():
 
 
 @external_detection
-def _test_detection_by_executable(pkgs, error_cls):
+def _test_detection_by_executable(pkgs, debug_log, error_cls):
     """Test drive external detection for packages"""
     import spack.detection
 
@@ -1095,6 +1095,7 @@ def _test_detection_by_executable(pkgs, error_cls):
         for idx, test_runner in enumerate(
             spack.detection.detection_tests(pkg_name, spack.repo.PATH)
         ):
+            debug_log(f"[{__file__}]: running test {idx} for package {pkg_name}")
             specs = test_runner.execute()
             expected_specs = test_runner.expected_specs
 
@@ -1115,11 +1116,10 @@ def _test_detection_by_executable(pkgs, error_cls):
             for candidate in expected_specs:
                 try:
                     idx = specs.index(candidate)
+                    matched_detection.append((candidate, specs[idx]))
                 except (AttributeError, ValueError):
                     pass
 
-                matched_detection.append((candidate, specs[idx]))
-
             def _compare_extra_attribute(_expected, _detected, *, _spec):
                 result = []
                 # Check items are of the same type
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/audit.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/audit.py
index c8cef494ef..77bbbc5d82 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/audit.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/audit.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def externals(parser, args):
         return
 
     pkgs = args.name or spack.repo.PATH.all_package_names()
-    reports = spack.audit.run_group(args.subcommand, pkgs=pkgs)
+    reports = spack.audit.run_group(args.subcommand, pkgs=pkgs, debug_log=tty.debug)
     _process_reports(reports)
 
 
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/arm-forge/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/arm-forge/package.py
index 74dbbe5563..6d205f2209 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/arm-forge/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/arm-forge/package.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ class ArmForge(Package):
     # TODO: this mess should be fixed as soon as a way to parametrize/constrain
     #       versions (and checksums) based on the target platform shows up
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     if platform.machine() in ["aarch64", "arm64"]:
         version(
             "22.1.3", sha256="131884f998b82673e885a7b42cc883210e3a0229b50af374092140cdfd42a408"
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cuda/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cuda/package.py
index 973fcd95cc..d70fc3d865 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cuda/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cuda/package.py
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@ class Cuda(Package):
     maintainers("ax3l", "Rombur")
     executables = ["^nvcc$"]
 
-    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin"]
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin", "platform=windows"]
 
     for ver, packages in _versions.items():
         key = "{0}-{1}".format(platform.system(), platform.machine())
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cudnn/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cudnn/package.py
index b042529a6e..5b5c10c44e 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cudnn/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cudnn/package.py
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ class Cudnn(Package):
     # need to use modified URLs like in url_for_version.
     maintainers("adamjstewart", "bvanessen")
 
-    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin"]
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin", "platform=windows"]
 
     license("MIT")
 
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cutensor/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cutensor/package.py
index d80a8df332..a9e9eb54ee 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cutensor/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/cutensor/package.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class Cutensor(Package):
     maintainers("bvanessen")
     url = "cutensor"
 
-    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin"]
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin", "platform=windows"]
 
     for ver, packages in _versions.items():
         key = "{0}-{1}".format(platform.system(), platform.machine())
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc-runtime/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc-runtime/package.py
index 659327b763..9c92feb337 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc-runtime/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc-runtime/package.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class GccRuntime(Package):
     tags = ["runtime"]
 
     # gcc-runtime versions are declared dynamically
-    skip_version_audit = ["platform=linux", "platform=darwin"]
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=linux", "platform=darwin", "platform=windows"]
 
     maintainers("haampie")
 
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc/detection_test.yaml b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc/detection_test.yaml
index cdce43196e..4677a8cdab 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc/detection_test.yaml
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/gcc/detection_test.yaml
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ paths:
         - "bin/x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc-10"
         - "bin/x86_64-linux-gnu-g++-10"
         script: "echo 10.1.0"
+    platforms: [darwin, linux]
     results:
       - spec: "gcc@6.5.0 languages=c"
         extra_attributes:
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/git-annex/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/git-annex/package.py
index be50387287..62df61d23e 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/git-annex/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/git-annex/package.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class GitAnnex(Package):
     # - $ git annex whereis git-annex/linux/current/git-annex-standalone-arm64.tar.gz
     #     -> gives web url
 
-    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin"]
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin", "platform=windows"]
 
     license("AGPL-3.0-or-later")
 
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hpcviewer/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hpcviewer/package.py
index 7bf6916a52..5995dafc78 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hpcviewer/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hpcviewer/package.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ class Hpcviewer(Package):
     homepage = "http://hpctoolkit.org"
     maintainers("mwkrentel")
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     darwin_sha = {
         ("2024.02", "aarch64"): "0f2bf2f89b7b9656b1b249efc8b24763f7865e8ddae5b22a3c21cc79fda49ce9",
         ("2024.02", "x86_64"): "7f61166155f326179e309aa18568b44d98a2219973a323cd4713123b5bf6fd54",
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/javafx/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/javafx/package.py
index fe3d767c8e..20e58fb506 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/javafx/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/javafx/package.py
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ class Javafx(Package):
         except KeyError:
             continue
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     maintainers("snehring")
 
     extends("openjdk")
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nf-tower-cli/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nf-tower-cli/package.py
index e8a8669050..bb9520f98b 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nf-tower-cli/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nf-tower-cli/package.py
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ class NfTowerCli(Package):
     homepage = "https://github.com/seqeralabs/tower-cli"
     maintainers("marcodelapierre")
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     if platform.machine() == "x86_64":
         if platform.system() == "Darwin":
             version(
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nvhpc/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nvhpc/package.py
index d627548cd5..bc11e64a39 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nvhpc/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/nvhpc/package.py
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ class Nvhpc(Package):
     maintainers("samcmill")
     tags = ["e4s"]
 
-    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin"]
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin", "platform=windows"]
 
     redistribute(source=False, binary=False)
 
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openjdk/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openjdk/package.py
index 084b8be34f..ccbe1d88ee 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openjdk/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/openjdk/package.py
@@ -367,6 +367,8 @@ class Openjdk(Package):
 
     executables = ["^java$"]
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     @classmethod
     def determine_version(cls, exe):
         output = Executable(exe)("-version", output=str, error=str)
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/pandoc/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/pandoc/package.py
index 870490a587..81a93f5f57 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/pandoc/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/pandoc/package.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ class Pandoc(Package):
     # the challenges with Haskell. Until the Haskell framework is in Spack this
     # package will meet the needs of packages that have a dependency on pandoc.
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     if platform.system() == "Linux" and platform.machine() == "aarch64":
         url = "https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/releases/download/2.14.0.3/pandoc-2.14.0.3-linux-arm64.tar.gz"
         version(
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-azureml-dataprep-native/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-azureml-dataprep-native/package.py
index 2ea0d46495..405dcac633 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-azureml-dataprep-native/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-azureml-dataprep-native/package.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ class PyAzuremlDataprepNative(PythonPackage):
 
     homepage = "https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/python/api/overview/azure/ml/?view=azure-ml-py"
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     if sys.platform == "darwin":
         version(
             "30.0.0-py3.9",
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-azureml-dataprep-rslex/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-azureml-dataprep-rslex/package.py
index bf507a5949..c7ade72fee 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-azureml-dataprep-rslex/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-azureml-dataprep-rslex/package.py
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ class PyAzuremlDataprepRslex(PythonPackage):
 
     homepage = "https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/python/api/overview/azure/ml/?view=azure-ml-py"
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     if sys.platform == "darwin":
         version(
             "1.9.0-py3.9",
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-dotnetcore2/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-dotnetcore2/package.py
index 3bc930b0ea..7838bc1d02 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-dotnetcore2/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-dotnetcore2/package.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ class PyDotnetcore2(PythonPackage):
 
     homepage = "https://github.com/dotnet/core"
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     if sys.platform == "darwin":
         version(
             "2.1.14",
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-itk/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-itk/package.py
index 5c11e97c67..92e89c09eb 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-itk/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-itk/package.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ class PyItk(PythonPackage):
 
     homepage = "https://itk.org/"
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     if sys.platform == "darwin":
         # version 5.1.1
         version(
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-nvidia-dali/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-nvidia-dali/package.py
index 14522f2932..5cc0eee3b2 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-nvidia-dali/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-nvidia-dali/package.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class PyNvidiaDali(PythonPackage):
     homepage = "https://developer.nvidia.com/dali"
     url = "https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/redist/"
 
-    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin"]
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=darwin", "platform=windows"]
 
     maintainers("thomas-bouvier")
 
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-shiboken2/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-shiboken2/package.py
index 4f50d92b07..fa90c0b61a 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-shiboken2/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/py-shiboken2/package.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ class PyShiboken2(PythonPackage):
 
     homepage = "https://www.pyside.org/"
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     if sys.platform.startswith("linux"):
         version(
             "5.15.2",
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/rust-bootstrap/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/rust-bootstrap/package.py
index ea73046f9c..7747f7867a 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/rust-bootstrap/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/rust-bootstrap/package.py
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ class RustBootstrap(Package):
 
     maintainers("alecbcs")
 
+    skip_version_audit = ["platform=windows"]
+
     # List binary rust releases for multiple operating systems and architectures.
     # These binary versions are not intended to stay up-to-date. Instead we
     # should update these binary releases as bootstrapping requirements are
@@ -110,6 +112,9 @@ class RustBootstrap(Package):
             version(release, sha256=rust_releases[release][os][target])
 
     def url_for_version(self, version):
+        if self.os not in ("linux", "darwin"):
+            return None
+
         # Allow maintainers to checksum multiple architectures via
         # `spack checksum rust-bootstrap@1.70.0-darwin-aarch64`.
         match = re.search(r"(\S+)-(\S+)-(\S+)", str(version))