diff --git a/hgext/inotify/server.py b/hgext/inotify/server.py
--- a/hgext/inotify/server.py
+++ b/hgext/inotify/server.py
@@ -461,9 +461,9 @@ def start(ui, dirstate, root, opts):
                 self.master.shutdown()
 
     if 'inserve' not in sys.argv:
-        runargs = [sys.argv[0], 'inserve', '-R', root]
+        runargs = util.hgcmd() + ['inserve', '-R', root]
     else:
-        runargs = sys.argv[:]
+        runargs = util.hgcmd() + sys.argv[1:]
 
     pidfile = ui.config('inotify', 'pidfile')
     if opts['daemon'] and pidfile is not None and 'pid-file' not in runargs:
diff --git a/mercurial/cmdutil.py b/mercurial/cmdutil.py
--- a/mercurial/cmdutil.py
+++ b/mercurial/cmdutil.py
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ def service(opts, parentfn=None, initfn=
         os.close(lockfd)        
         try:
             if not runargs:
-                runargs = sys.argv[:]
+                runargs = util.hgcmd() + sys.argv[1:]
             runargs.append('--daemon-pipefds=%s' % lockpath)
             # Don't pass --cwd to the child process, because we've already
             # changed directory.
diff --git a/mercurial/posix.py b/mercurial/posix.py
--- a/mercurial/posix.py
+++ b/mercurial/posix.py
@@ -262,3 +262,5 @@ def spawndetached(args):
     return os.spawnvp(os.P_NOWAIT | getattr(os, 'P_DETACH', 0),
                       args[0], args)
 
+def gethgcmd():
+    return sys.argv[:1]
diff --git a/mercurial/util.py b/mercurial/util.py
--- a/mercurial/util.py
+++ b/mercurial/util.py
@@ -1274,3 +1274,14 @@ def iterlines(iterator):
 
 def expandpath(path):
     return os.path.expanduser(os.path.expandvars(path))
+
+def hgcmd():
+    """Return the command used to execute current hg
+
+    This is different from hgexecutable() because on Windows we want
+    to avoid things opening new shell windows like batch files, so we
+    get either the python call or current executable.
+    """
+    if main_is_frozen():
+        return [sys.executable]
+    return gethgcmd()
diff --git a/mercurial/windows.py b/mercurial/windows.py
--- a/mercurial/windows.py
+++ b/mercurial/windows.py
@@ -352,6 +352,9 @@ def spawndetached(args):
         STARTUPINFO())
     return pid
 
+def gethgcmd():
+    return [sys.executable] + sys.argv[:1]
+
 try:
     # override functions with win32 versions if possible
     from win32 import *