diff --git a/source/common/cstring.h b/source/common/cstring.h
index 46af79e3e90..848e9cb71d1 100644
--- a/source/common/cstring.h
+++ b/source/common/cstring.h
@@ -36,12 +36,14 @@
 
 #define icu_strcpy(dst, src) strcpy(dst, src)
 #define icu_strcpyWithSize(dst, src, size) strncpy(dst, src, size)
+#define icu_strncpy(dst, src, size) strncpy(dst, src, size)
 #define icu_strlen(str) strlen(str)
 #define icu_strcmp(s1, s2) strcmp(s1, s2)
 #define icu_strncmp(s1, s2, n) strncmp(s1, s2, n)
 #define icu_strcat(dst, src) strcat(dst, src)
 #define icu_strncat(dst, src, n) strncat(dst, src, n)
 #define icu_strchr(s, c) strchr(s, c)
+#define icu_strrchr(s, c) strrchr(s, c)
 #define icu_toupper(c) toupper(c)
 #define icu_tolower(c) tolower(c)
 
diff --git a/source/tools/genrb/genrb.dsp b/source/tools/genrb/genrb.dsp
index f7219d6b65a..64b6e181f93 100644
--- a/source/tools/genrb/genrb.dsp
+++ b/source/tools/genrb/genrb.dsp
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ RSC=rc.exe
 # PROP Ignore_Export_Lib 0
 # PROP Target_Dir ""
 # ADD BASE CPP /nologo /W3 /GX /O2 /D "WIN32" /D "NDEBUG" /D "_CONSOLE" /D "_MBCS" /YX /FD /c
-# ADD CPP /nologo /MT /W3 /GX /I "..\..\..\include" /I "..\..\..\source\common" /D "WIN32" /D "NDEBUG" /D "_CONSOLE" /D "_MBCS" /YX /FD /c
+# ADD CPP /nologo /MT /Za /W3 /GX /I "..\..\..\include" /I "..\..\..\source\common" /D "WIN32" /D "NDEBUG" /D "_CONSOLE" /D "_MBCS" /YX /FD /c
 # ADD BASE RSC /l 0x409 /d "NDEBUG"
 # ADD RSC /l 0x409 /d "NDEBUG"
 BSC32=bscmake.exe
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ LINK32=link.exe
 # PROP Ignore_Export_Lib 0
 # PROP Target_Dir ""
 # ADD BASE CPP /nologo /W3 /Gm /GX /ZI /Od /D "WIN32" /D "_DEBUG" /D "_CONSOLE" /D "_MBCS" /YX /FD /GZ /c
-# ADD CPP /nologo /MTd /W3 /Gm /GX /ZI /Od /I "..\..\..\include" /I "..\..\..\source\common" /D "WIN32" /D "_DEBUG" /D "_CONSOLE" /D "_MBCS" /YX /FD /GZ /c
+# ADD CPP /nologo /MTd /Za /W3 /Gm /GX /ZI /Od /I "..\..\..\include" /I "..\..\..\source\common" /D "WIN32" /D "_DEBUG" /D "_CONSOLE" /D "_MBCS" /YX /FD /GZ /c
 # ADD BASE RSC /l 0x409 /d "_DEBUG"
 # ADD RSC /l 0x409 /d "_DEBUG"
 BSC32=bscmake.exe
diff --git a/source/tools/genrb/util.c b/source/tools/genrb/util.c
index bc1e620fb59..c31b03dd138 100644
--- a/source/tools/genrb/util.c
+++ b/source/tools/genrb/util.c
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 
 
 /* Platform-specific directory separator */
-#ifdef WIN32
+#if defined(WIN32) ||  defined(_WIN32) || defined(OS2) || defined(__OS2__)
 # define DIR_SEP '\\'
 # define CUR_DIR ".\\"
 #else
@@ -37,29 +37,14 @@ void
 get_dirname(char *dirname,
 	    const char *filename)
 {
-  const char *slash;
-  const char *lastSlash;
+  const char *lastSlash = icu_strrchr(filename, DIR_SEP) + 1;
 
-  /* if the first character isn't DIR_SEP or '.', return CUR_DIR */
-  if(*filename != DIR_SEP && *filename != '.') {
-    icu_strcpy(dirname, CUR_DIR);
-    return;
+  if(lastSlash>filename) {
+    icu_strncpy(dirname, filename, (lastSlash - filename));
+    *(dirname + (lastSlash - filename)) = '\0';
+  } else {
+    *dirname = '\0';
   }
-
-  /* strip off and copy any leading directory portions */
-  slash = lastSlash = filename;
-  for(;;) {
-    slash = icu_strchr(slash, DIR_SEP);
-    if(slash == 0) {
-      slash = lastSlash;
-      break;
-    }
-    ++slash;
-    lastSlash = slash;
-  }
-  
-  *dirname = '\0';
-  icu_strncat(dirname, filename, (lastSlash - filename));
 }
 
 /* go from "/usr/local/include/curses.h" to "curses" */
@@ -67,36 +52,20 @@ void
 get_basename(char *basename,
 	     const char *filename)
 {
-  const char *slash;
-  const char *lastSlash;
-  char *dot;
+  /* strip off any leading directory portions */
+  const char *lastSlash = icu_strrchr(filename, DIR_SEP) + 1;
   char *lastDot;
 
-  /* strip off any leading directory portions */
-  slash = lastSlash = filename;
-  for(;;) {
-    slash = icu_strchr(slash, DIR_SEP);
-    if(slash == 0) {
-      slash = lastSlash;
-      break;
-    }
-    ++slash;
-    lastSlash = slash;
+  if(lastSlash>filename) {
+    icu_strcpy(basename, lastSlash);
+  } else {
+    icu_strcpy(basename, filename);
   }
-  
-  icu_strcpy(basename, slash);
 
   /* strip off any suffix */
-  dot = basename;
-  lastDot = 0;
-  for(;;) {
-    dot = icu_strchr(dot, '.');
-    if(dot == 0) {
-      if(lastDot != 0)
-	*lastDot = '\0';
-      break;
-    }
-    lastDot = dot;
-    ++dot;
+  lastDot = icu_strrchr(basename, '.');
+
+  if(lastDot != NULL) {
+    *lastDot = '\0';
   }
 }
diff --git a/source/tools/makedata.bat b/source/tools/makedata.bat
index 237c46ad236..d17aed294e6 100755
--- a/source/tools/makedata.bat
+++ b/source/tools/makedata.bat
@@ -9,16 +9,19 @@ if "%1"=="" goto :error
 if "%ICU_DATA%"=="" set ICU_DATA=%1\icu\data\
 set toolversion=Debug
 
-cd %1\icu\data
-
 rem create conversion tables
-call %1\icu\source\tools\makeconv\mkcnvfle %toolversion% %1
+cd makeconv
+call mkcnvfle %toolversion% %1
 
 rem create locale resource bundles
-call %1\icu\source\tools\genrb\genrb %1\icu\source\tools\genrb\%toolversion% %1
+cd ..\genrb
+call genrb %toolversion% %1
 
 rem create binary collation tables
-%1\icu\source\tools\gencol\%toolversion%\gencol
+cd ..\gencol
+%toolversion%\gencol
+
+cd ..
 
 goto :end
 
@@ -26,6 +29,6 @@ goto :end
 echo call makedata with the absolute path to the icu directory
 echo for example, if the full path is d:\mytools\icu then call
 echo makedata d:\mytools
-echo the current directory will be changed to d:\mytools\icu\data
+echo the current directory must be the icu\source\tools directory with makedata.bat
 
 :end