diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 679ac1372..b879717ef 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,17 +1,19 @@
-# This cmake build is for Windows only.
+# This cmake build is for Windows 64-bit only.
 #
 # Prerequisites:
 #     You must have Visual Studio 2013 Update 4 installed. Start the Developer Command Prompt window that is a part of Visual Studio installation.
 #     Run the build commands from within the Developer Command Prompt window to have paths to the compiler and runtime libraries set.
+#     You must have git.exe in your %PATH% environment variable.
 #
 # To build Rocksdb for Windows is as easy as 1-2-3-4-5:
 # 
-# 1. Update paths to thirdparty libraries in thirdparty.cmake file
+# 1. Update paths to third-party libraries in thirdparty.inc file
 # 2. Create a new directory for build artifacts
 #        mkdir build
 #        cd build
-# 3. Run cmake to generate project files for Windows
-#        cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 Win64" ..
+# 3. Run cmake to generate project files for Windows, add more options to enable required third-party libraries.
+#    See thirdparty.inc for more information.
+#        cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 Win64" .. <more options>
 # 4. Then build the project in debug mode (you may want to add /m:<N> flag to run msbuild in <N> parallel threads)
 #        msbuild ALL_BUILD.vcxproj
 # 5. And release mode (/m:<N> is also supported)
diff --git a/thirdparty.inc b/thirdparty.inc
index dd43e0c5f..38422b6f6 100644
--- a/thirdparty.inc
+++ b/thirdparty.inc
@@ -1,12 +1,20 @@
 # Edit definitions below to specify paths to include files and libraries of all 3rd party libraries
 
-# This example assumes all the libraries locate in the same directory tree under THIRDPARTY_HOME environment variable
-# Set environment variable THIRDPARTY_HOME to point to your third party libraries home (Unix style dir separators)
+#
+# Edit these lines to set defaults for use of external libraries
+#
+set(USE_GFLAGS_DEFAULT 0)        # GFLAGS is disabled by default, enable with -DGFLAGS=1 cmake command line agrument
+set(USE_SNAPPY_DEFAULT 0)        # SNAPPY is disabled by default, enable with -DSNAPPY=1 cmake command line agrument
+set(USE_LZ4_DEFAULT 0)           # LZ4 is disabled by default, enable with -DLZ4=1 cmake command line agrument
+set(USE_ZLIB_DEFAULT 0)          # ZLIB is disabled by default, enable with -DZLIB=1 cmake command line agrument
+set(USE_JEMALLOC_DEFAULT 0)      # JEMALLOC is disabled by default, enable with -DJEMALLOC=1 cmake command line agrument
 
-# Edit these lines to enable/disable external libraries use
-set(USE_GFLAGS 1)
-set(USE_SNAPPY 1)
-set(USE_JEMALLOC 1)
+#
+# This example assumes all the libraries locate in directories under THIRDPARTY_HOME environment variable
+# Set environment variable THIRDPARTY_HOME to point to your third party libraries home (Unix style dir separators)
+# or change the paths below to reflect where the libraries actually reside
+#
+set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS "")         # Initialization, don't touch
 
 #
 # Edit these 4 lines to define paths to GFLAGS
@@ -16,10 +24,29 @@ set(GFLAGS_INCLUDE ${GFLAGS_HOME}/inc/include)
 set(GFLAGS_LIB_DEBUG ${GFLAGS_HOME}/bin/debug/amd64/gflags.lib)
 set(GFLAGS_LIB_RELEASE ${GFLAGS_HOME}/bin/retail/amd64/gflags.lib)
 
+# ================================================== GFLAGS ==================================================
+#
 # Don't touch these lines
-set(GFLAGS_CXX_FLAGS -DGFLAGS=gflags)
-set(GFLAGS_LIBS debug ${GFLAGS_LIB_DEBUG} optimized ${GFLAGS_LIB_RELEASE})
+#
+if (DEFINED GFLAGS)
+  set(USE_GFLAGS ${GFLAGS})
+else ()
+  set(USE_GFLAGS ${USE_GFLAGS_DEFAULT})
+endif ()
+
+if (${USE_GFLAGS} EQUAL 1)
+  message("GFLAGS library is enabled")
+  set(GFLAGS_CXX_FLAGS -DGFLAGS=gflags)
+  set(GFLAGS_LIBS debug ${GFLAGS_LIB_DEBUG} optimized ${GFLAGS_LIB_RELEASE})
+
+  add_definitions(${GFLAGS_CXX_FLAGS})
+  include_directories(${GFLAGS_INCLUDE})
+  set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS ${THIRDPARTY_LIBS} ${GFLAGS_LIBS})
+else ()
+  message("GFLAGS library is disabled")
+endif ()
 
+# ================================================== SNAPPY ==================================================
 #
 # Edit these 4 lines to define paths to Snappy
 #
@@ -28,43 +55,115 @@ set(SNAPPY_INCLUDE ${SNAPPY_HOME}/inc/inc)
 set(SNAPPY_LIB_DEBUG ${SNAPPY_HOME}/bin/debug/amd64/snappy.lib)
 set(SNAPPY_LIB_RELEASE ${SNAPPY_HOME}/bin/retail/amd64/snappy.lib)
 
+#
 # Don't touch these lines
-set(SNAPPY_CXX_FLAGS -DSNAPPY)
-set(SNAPPY_LIBS debug ${SNAPPY_LIB_DEBUG} optimized ${SNAPPY_LIB_RELEASE})
+#
+if (DEFINED SNAPPY)
+  set(USE_SNAPPY ${SNAPPY})
+else ()
+  set(USE_SNAPPY ${USE_SNAPPY_DEFAULT})
+endif ()
+
+if (${USE_SNAPPY} EQUAL 1)
+  message("SNAPPY library is enabled")
+  set(SNAPPY_CXX_FLAGS -DSNAPPY)
+  set(SNAPPY_LIBS debug ${SNAPPY_LIB_DEBUG} optimized ${SNAPPY_LIB_RELEASE})
+
+  add_definitions(${SNAPPY_CXX_FLAGS})
+  include_directories(${SNAPPY_INCLUDE})
+  set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS ${THIRDPARTY_LIBS} ${SNAPPY_LIBS})
+else ()
+  message("SNAPPY library is disabled")
+endif ()
 
+# ================================================== LZ4 ==================================================
 #
-# Edit these 4 lines to define paths to Jemalloc
+# Edit these 4 lines to define paths to LZ4
 #
-set(JEMALLOC_HOME $ENV{THIRDPARTY_HOME}/Jemalloc.Library)
-set(JEMALLOC_INCLUDE ${JEMALLOC_HOME}/inc/include)
-set(JEMALLOC_LIB_DEBUG ${JEMALLOC_HOME}/bin/debug/amd64/jemalloc.lib)
-set(JEMALLOC_LIB_RELEASE ${JEMALLOC_HOME}/bin/retail/amd64/jemalloc.lib)
+set(LZ4_HOME $ENV{THIRDPARTY_HOME}/LZ4.Library)
+set(LZ4_INCLUDE ${LZ4_HOME}/inc/include)
+set(LZ4_LIB_DEBUG ${LZ4_HOME}/bin/debug/amd64/lz4.lib)
+set(LZ4_LIB_RELEASE ${LZ4_HOME}/bin/retail/amd64/lz4.lib)
 
+#
 # Don't touch these lines
-set(JEMALLOC_CXX_FLAGS -DJEMALLOC)
-set(JEMALLOC_LIBS debug ${JEMALLOC_LIB_DEBUG} optimized ${JEMALLOC_LIB_RELEASE})
+#
+if (DEFINED LZ4)
+  set(USE_LZ4 ${LZ4})
+else ()
+  set(USE_LZ4 ${USE_LZ4_DEFAULT})
+endif ()
 
+if (${USE_LZ4} EQUAL 1)
+  message("LZ4 library is enabled")
+  set(LZ4_CXX_FLAGS -DLZ4)
+  set(LZ4_LIBS debug ${LZ4_LIB_DEBUG} optimized ${LZ4_LIB_RELEASE})
 
-# Aggregate all third-party dependencies
+  add_definitions(${LZ4_CXX_FLAGS})
+  include_directories(${LZ4_INCLUDE})
+  set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS ${THIRDPARTY_LIBS} ${LZ4_LIBS})
+else ()
+  message("LZ4 library is disabled")
+endif ()
 
-set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS "")
-set (ARTIFACT_SUFFIX "")
+# ================================================== ZLIB ==================================================
+#
+# Edit these 4 lines to define paths to ZLIB
+#
+set(ZLIB_HOME $ENV{THIRDPARTY_HOME}/ZLIB.Library)
+set(ZLIB_INCLUDE ${ZLIB_HOME}/inc/include)
+set(ZLIB_LIB_DEBUG ${ZLIB_HOME}/bin/debug/amd64/zlib.lib)
+set(ZLIB_LIB_RELEASE ${ZLIB_HOME}/bin/retail/amd64/zlib.lib)
 
-if (${USE_GFLAGS} EQUAL 1)
-set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS ${THIRDPARTY_LIBS} ${GFLAGS_LIBS})
-add_definitions(${GFLAGS_CXX_FLAGS})
-include_directories(${GFLAGS_INCLUDE})
-endif (${USE_GFLAGS} EQUAL 1)
+#
+# Don't touch these lines
+#
+if (DEFINED ZLIB)
+  set(USE_ZLIB ${ZLIB})
+else ()
+  set(USE_ZLIB ${USE_ZLIB_DEFAULT})
+endif ()
 
-if (${USE_SNAPPY} EQUAL 1)
-set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS ${THIRDPARTY_LIBS} ${SNAPPY_LIBS})
-add_definitions(${SNAPPY_CXX_FLAGS})
-include_directories(${SNAPPY_INCLUDE})
-endif (${USE_SNAPPY} EQUAL 1)
+if (${USE_ZLIB} EQUAL 1)
+  message("ZLIB library is enabled")
+  set(ZLIB_CXX_FLAGS -DZLIB)
+  set(ZLIB_LIBS debug ${ZLIB_LIB_DEBUG} optimized ${ZLIB_LIB_RELEASE})
+
+  add_definitions(${ZLIB_CXX_FLAGS})
+  include_directories(${ZLIB_INCLUDE})
+  set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS ${THIRDPARTY_LIBS} ${ZLIB_LIBS})
+else ()
+  message("ZLIB library is disabled")
+endif ()
+
+#
+# Edit these 4 lines to define paths to Jemalloc
+#
+set(JEMALLOC_HOME $ENV{THIRDPARTY_HOME}/Jemalloc.Library)
+set(JEMALLOC_INCLUDE ${JEMALLOC_HOME}/inc/include)
+set(JEMALLOC_LIB_DEBUG ${JEMALLOC_HOME}/bin/debug/amd64/jemalloc.lib)
+set(JEMALLOC_LIB_RELEASE ${JEMALLOC_HOME}/bin/retail/amd64/jemalloc.lib)
+
+# ================================================== JEMALLOC ==================================================
+#
+# Don't touch these lines
+#
+if (DEFINED JEMALLOC)
+  set(USE_JEMALLOC ${JEMALLOC})
+else ()
+  set(USE_JEMALLOC ${USE_JEMALLOC_DEFAULT})
+endif ()
 
 if (${USE_JEMALLOC} EQUAL 1)
-set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS ${THIRDPARTY_LIBS} ${JEMALLOC_LIBS})
-add_definitions(${JEMALLOC_CXX_FLAGS})
-include_directories(${JEMALLOC_INCLUDE})
-set (ARTIFACT_SUFFIX "_je")
-endif (${USE_JEMALLOC} EQUAL 1)
+  message("JEMALLOC library is enabled")
+  set(JEMALLOC_CXX_FLAGS -DJEMALLOC)
+  set(JEMALLOC_LIBS debug ${JEMALLOC_LIB_DEBUG} optimized ${JEMALLOC_LIB_RELEASE})
+
+  add_definitions(${JEMALLOC_CXX_FLAGS})
+  include_directories(${JEMALLOC_INCLUDE})
+  set (THIRDPARTY_LIBS ${THIRDPARTY_LIBS} ${JEMALLOC_LIBS})
+  set (ARTIFACT_SUFFIX "_je")
+else ()
+  set (ARTIFACT_SUFFIX "")
+  message("JEMALLOC library is disabled")
+endif ()