diff --git a/libr/cons/dietline.c b/libr/cons/dietline.c
index 14fc82987f..05323d34a1 100644
--- a/libr/cons/dietline.c
+++ b/libr/cons/dietline.c
@@ -261,14 +261,14 @@ static int r_line_readchar_utf8(ut8 *s, int slen) {
 
 #if __WINDOWS__
 static int r_line_readchar_win(ut8 *s, int slen) { // this function handle the input in console mode
+	r_sys_backtrace();
 	INPUT_RECORD irInBuf = { { 0 } };
-	BOOL ret, bCtrl = FALSE;
+	BOOL ret;
 	DWORD mode, out;
 	char buf[5] = {0};
-	HANDLE h;
 	void *bed;
 
-	h = GetStdHandle (STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
+	HANDLE h = GetStdHandle (STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
 	DWORD new_mode = I.vtmode == 2 ? ENABLE_VIRTUAL_TERMINAL_INPUT : 0;
 	GetConsoleMode (h, &mode);
 	SetConsoleMode (h, new_mode);
@@ -298,18 +298,16 @@ do_it_again:
 		if (irInBuf.Event.KeyEvent.bKeyDown) {
 			if (irInBuf.Event.KeyEvent.uChar.UnicodeChar) {
 				char *tmp = r_sys_conv_win_to_utf8_l ((PTCHAR)&irInBuf.Event.KeyEvent.uChar, 1);
-				if (!tmp) {
-					return 0;
+				if (tmp) {
+					r_str_ncpy (buf, tmp, sizeof (buf));
+					free (tmp);
 				}
-				strncpy_s (buf, sizeof (buf), tmp, strlen (tmp));
-				free (tmp);
 			} else {
 				int idx = 0;
 				buf[idx++] = 27;
 				buf[idx++] = '['; // Simulate escaping
-				bCtrl = irInBuf.Event.KeyEvent.dwControlKeyState & 8;
-				if (bCtrl) {
-					buf[idx++] = 0x31;
+				if (irInBuf.Event.KeyEvent.dwControlKeyState & 8) {
+					buf[idx++] = '1'; // control key
 				}
 				switch (irInBuf.Event.KeyEvent.wVirtualKeyCode) {
 				case VK_UP: buf[idx++] = 'A'; break;
@@ -329,7 +327,7 @@ do_it_again:
 	if (!buf[0]) {
 		goto do_it_again;
 	}
-	strncpy_s ((char *)s, slen, buf, sizeof (buf));
+	r_str_ncpy (s, buf, slen);
 	SetConsoleMode (h, mode);
 	return strlen ((char *)s);
 }
@@ -535,25 +533,23 @@ R_API int r_line_hist_load(const char *file) {
 	return true;
 }
 
-R_API int r_line_hist_save(const char *file) {
-	FILE *fd;
-	int i, ret = false;
-	if (!file || !*file) {
-		return false;
-	}
+R_API bool r_line_hist_save(const char *file) {
+	r_return_val_if_fail (file && *file, false);
+	int i;
+	bool ret = false;
 	char *p, *path = r_str_home (file);
-	if (path != NULL) {
+	if (path) {
 		p = (char *) r_str_lastbut (path, R_SYS_DIR[0], NULL);	// TODO: use fs
 		if (p) {
 			*p = 0;
 			if (!r_sys_mkdirp (path)) {
-				eprintf ("could not save history into %s\n", path);
+				eprintf ("Could not save history into %s\n", path);
 				goto end;
 			}
 			*p = R_SYS_DIR[0];
 		}
-		fd = r_sandbox_fopen (path, "w");
-		if (fd != NULL) {
+		FILE *fd = r_sandbox_fopen (path, "w");
+		if (fd) {
 			if (I.history.data) {
 				for (i = 0; i < I.history.index; i++) {
 					fputs (I.history.data[i], fd);
@@ -1630,16 +1626,24 @@ R_API const char *r_line_readline_cb(RLineReadCallback cb, void *user) {
 			break;
 		case 27: // esc-5b-41-00-00 alt/meta key
 #if __WINDOWS__
+			// always skip escape
+			memmove (buf, buf + 1, strlen (buf));
+#if 0
 			if (I.vtmode != 2) {
-				memmove (buf, buf + 1, strlen (buf));
+				if (buf[1] == '[') {
+					memmove (buf, buf + 2, strlen (buf));
+				} else {
+					memmove (buf, buf + 1, strlen (buf));
+				}
 				if (!buf[0]) {
 					buf[0] = -1;
 				}
 			} else {
-#endif
 				buf[0] = r_cons_readchar_timeout (50);
-#if __WINDOWS__
 			}
+#endif
+#else
+			buf[0] = r_cons_readchar_timeout (50);
 #endif
 			switch (buf[0]) {
 			case 127: // alt+bkspace
@@ -1694,6 +1698,7 @@ R_API const char *r_line_readline_cb(RLineReadCallback cb, void *user) {
 				}
 				break;
 			default:
+#if !__WINDOWS__
 				if (I.vtmode == 2) {
 					buf[1] = r_cons_readchar_timeout (50);
 					if (buf[1] == -1) { // alt+e
@@ -1704,6 +1709,7 @@ R_API const char *r_line_readline_cb(RLineReadCallback cb, void *user) {
 				} else {
 					buf[1] = r_cons_readchar_timeout (50);
 				}
+#endif
 				if (buf[0] == '[') { // [
 					switch (buf[1]) {
 					case '3': // supr or mouse click
diff --git a/libr/cons/input.c b/libr/cons/input.c
index df057c9e05..5543cb776d 100644
--- a/libr/cons/input.c
+++ b/libr/cons/input.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* radare - LGPL - Copyright 2009-2019 - pancake */
+/* radare - LGPL - Copyright 2009-2021 - pancake */
 
 #include <r_cons.h>
 #include <string.h>
diff --git a/libr/include/r_cons.h b/libr/include/r_cons.h
index 7b277e81e6..85635bfec6 100644
--- a/libr/include/r_cons.h
+++ b/libr/include/r_cons.h
@@ -1099,7 +1099,7 @@ R_API const char *r_line_readline_cb(RLineReadCallback cb, void *user);
 
 R_API int r_line_hist_load(const char *file);
 R_API int r_line_hist_add(const char *line);
-R_API int r_line_hist_save(const char *file);
+R_API bool r_line_hist_save(const char *file);
 R_API int r_line_hist_label(const char *label, void (*cb)(const char*));
 R_API void r_line_label_show(void);
 R_API int r_line_hist_list(void);