diff --git a/CMakeExternals/Python.cmake b/CMakeExternals/Python.cmake
index 74b044e325..7dd8d01a39 100644
--- a/CMakeExternals/Python.cmake
+++ b/CMakeExternals/Python.cmake
@@ -1,195 +1,197 @@
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Python
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
 if( MITK_USE_Python AND NOT MITK_USE_SYSTEM_PYTHON )
     # Sanity checks
   if(DEFINED Python_DIR AND NOT EXISTS ${Python_DIR})
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Python_DIR variable is defined but corresponds to non-existing directory")
   endif()
 
   if(NOT DEFINED Python_DIR)
 
     set(MITK_PYTHON_MAJOR_VERSION 2)
     set(MITK_PYTHON_MINOR_VERSION 7)
     set(MITK_PYTHON_PATCH_VERSION 3)
 
     set(PYTHON_SOURCE_PACKAGE Python-${MITK_PYTHON_MAJOR_VERSION}.${MITK_PYTHON_MINOR_VERSION}.${MITK_PYTHON_PATCH_VERSION})
     set(proj ${PYTHON_SOURCE_PACKAGE})
 
     # download the source code
     ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
       LIST_SEPARATOR ${sep}
       URL ${MITK_THIRDPARTY_DOWNLOAD_PREFIX_URL}/${PYTHON_SOURCE_PACKAGE}.tgz
       URL_MD5  "2cf641732ac23b18d139be077bd906cd"
       # patch the VS compiler config
       PATCH_COMMAND ${PATCH_COMMAND} -N -p1 -i ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/Python-2.7.3.patch
       CONFIGURE_COMMAND ""
       BUILD_COMMAND ""
       INSTALL_COMMAND ""
     )
 
     set(proj Python)
     set(Python_DEPENDENCIES ZLIB ${PYTHON_SOURCE_PACKAGE})
     set(Python_DEPENDS ${proj})
 
     set(additional_cmake_cache_args )
     list(APPEND additional_cmake_cache_args
         -DBUILTIN_ARRAY:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_AUDIOOP:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_BINASCII:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_BISECT:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_BSDB:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_BSSDB:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_BZ2:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CMATH:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_COLLECTIONS:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CODECS_CN:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CODECS_HK:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CODECS_ISO2022:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CODECS_JP:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CODECS_KR:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CODECS_TW:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CPICKLE:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CRYPT:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CSTRINGIO:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CSV:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_CTYPES:BOOL=OFF
         #-DBUILTIN_CTYPES_TEST:BOOL=OFF
         #-DBUILTIN_CURSES:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_DATETIME:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_DBM:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_ELEMENTTREE:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_FCNTL:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_FUNCTOOLS:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_FUTURE_BUILTINS:BOOL=ON
         -DBULTIN_GDBM:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_GRP:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_HASHLIB:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_HEAPQ:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_HOTSHOT:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_IO:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_ITERTOOLS:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_JSON:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_LOCALE:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_LSPROF:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_MATH:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_MMAP:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_MULTIBYTECODEC:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_MD5:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_MULTIPROCESSING:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_NIS:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_NIT:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_OPERATOR:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_PARSER:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_POSIX:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_PWD:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_PYEXPAT:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_READLINE:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_RESOURCE:BOOL=ON
         -DBULTIN_RANDOM:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SCPROXY:BOOL=OFF
         -DBUILTIN_SELECT:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SHA:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SHA256:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SHA512:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SOCKET:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SPWD:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SQLITE3:BOOL=OFF
         -DBUILTIN_SSL:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_STROP:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_STRUCT:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SUBPROCESS:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_SYSLOG:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_TERMIOS:BOOL=ON
         #-DBUILTIN_TESTCAPI:BOOL=OFF
         -DBUILTIN_TIME:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_TKINTER:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_UNICODEDATA:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_WINREG:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILTIN_ZLIB:BOOL=OFF
         -DUSE_SYSTEM_ZLIB:BOOL=ON
         )
 
     # CMake build environment for python from:
     # https://github.com/davidsansome/python-cmake-buildsystem
     ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
       LIST_SEPARATOR ${sep}
       URL ${MITK_THIRDPARTY_DOWNLOAD_PREFIX_URL}/python-cmake-buildsystem-47845c55.tar.gz
       URL_MD5 "6e49d1ed93a5a0fff7621430c163d2d1"
       # fix to build python on i686 and i386 with the python cmake build system,
       # the x86 path must be set as default
       PATCH_COMMAND ${PATCH_COMMAND} -N -p1 -i ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/python-cmake-buildsystem-47845c55.patch
       CMAKE_ARGS
         ${ep_common_args}
       CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS
         -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:FILEPATH=${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}
         -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER:FILEPATH=${CMAKE_C_COMPILER}
         #-DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=OFF
         -DBUILD_SHARED:BOOL=ON
         -DBUILD_STATIC:BOOL=OFF
         -DUSE_SYSTEM_LIBRARIES:BOOL=OFF
         ${additional_cmake_cache_args}
         -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
         -DZLIB_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${ZLIB_LIBRARY}
+        # Python (and Numpy) do not like different shared library names
+        -DCMAKE_DEBUG_POSTFIX:STRING=
       DEPENDS
         ${Python_DEPENDENCIES}
     )
 
     set(Python_DIR "${ep_prefix}")
 
     if(UNIX)
       set(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE "${Python_DIR}/bin/python${CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_SUFFIX}")
       set(PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR "${Python_DIR}/include/python${MITK_PYTHON_MAJOR_VERSION}.${MITK_PYTHON_MINOR_VERSION}")
       set(PYTHON_LIBRARY "${Python_DIR}/lib/${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}python${MITK_PYTHON_MAJOR_VERSION}.${MITK_PYTHON_MINOR_VERSION}${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
       set(MITK_PYTHON_SITE_DIR "${Python_DIR}/lib/python${MITK_PYTHON_MAJOR_VERSION}.${MITK_PYTHON_MINOR_VERSION}/site-packages")
 
       # linux custom compile step, set the environment variables and python home to the right
       # path. Other runtimes can mess up the paths of the installation and the stripped executable
       # used to compile links to the wrong library in /usr/lib
       set(_python_compile_step ${ep_prefix}/tmp/python_compile_step.sh)
       file(WRITE ${_python_compile_step}
 "#!/bin/bash
 export PYTHONHOME=${Python_DIR}
 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${Python_DIR}/lib
 ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m compileall
 
 ")
       # pre compile all *.py files in the runtime after install step
       ExternalProject_Add_Step(${proj} compile_step
         COMMAND sh ${_python_compile_step}
         WORKING_DIRECTORY ${Python_DIR}
         DEPENDEES install
       )
 
       # use the python executable in the build dir for unix systems. The stripped
       # ones will cause conflicts if system libraries are present during the build/configure process
       # of opencv, since they will try to lookup the sys path first if no lib is directly
       # linked with it s path into the executable
-      ExternalProject_Get_Property(${proj} binary_dir)
-      set(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE "${binary_dir}/bin/python${CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_SUFFIX}")
+      #ExternalProject_Get_Property(${proj} binary_dir)
+      #set(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE "${binary_dir}/bin/python${CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_SUFFIX}")
     else()
       set(PYTHON_EXECUTABLE "${Python_DIR}/bin/python${CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_SUFFIX}")
       set(PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR "${Python_DIR}/include")
       set(PYTHON_LIBRARY "${Python_DIR}/libs/python${MITK_PYTHON_MAJOR_VERSION}${MITK_PYTHON_MINOR_VERSION}.lib")
       set(MITK_PYTHON_SITE_DIR "${Python_DIR}/Lib/site-packages")
 
       # pre compile all *.py files in the runtime after install step
       ExternalProject_Add_Step(${proj} compile_step
         COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m compileall
         WORKING_DIRECTORY ${Python_DIR}
         DEPENDEES install
       )
     endif()
 
     mitkFunctionInstallExternalCMakeProject(${proj})
     install(DIRECTORY ${Python_DIR}
             DESTINATION .
             COMPONENT runtime
             FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.pyc"
            )
 
   else()
     mitkMacroEmptyExternalProject(${proj} "${proj_DEPENDENCIES}")
   endif()
 endif()
 
diff --git a/CMakeExternals/ZLIB.cmake b/CMakeExternals/ZLIB.cmake
index ba21316160..006ef41149 100644
--- a/CMakeExternals/ZLIB.cmake
+++ b/CMakeExternals/ZLIB.cmake
@@ -1,45 +1,60 @@
 #------------------------------------------------------------------
 # ZLIB
 #------------------------------------------------------------------
 if(MITK_USE_ZLIB)
   if(NOT DEFINED ZLIB_DIR)
     set(proj ZLIB)
     set(${proj}_DEPENDENCIES )
     set(ZLIB_DEPENDS ${proj})
 
     # Using the ZLIB from CTK:
     # https://github.com/commontk/zlib
     ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
       LIST_SEPARATOR ${sep}
       URL ${MITK_THIRDPARTY_DOWNLOAD_PREFIX_URL}/zlib-66a75305.tar.gz
       URL_MD5 "4c3f572b487ae7947fd88ec363533bc5"
       CMAKE_ARGS
         ${ep_common_args}
       CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS
         -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS:BOOL=OFF
         -DZLIB_MANGLE_PREFIX:STRING=mitk_zlib_
         -DZLIB_INSTALL_INCLUDE_DIR:STRING=include/mitk_zlib
-        
-      DEPENDS
-      ${ZLIB_DEPENDENCIES}
+      DEPENDS ${ZLIB_DEPENDENCIES}
       )
     set(ZLIB_DIR ${ep_prefix})
     set(ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR ${ZLIB_DIR}/include/mitk_zlib)
 
     install(DIRECTORY ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
             DESTINATION include
             COMPONENT dev)
 
-    if(WIN32)
-      set(ZLIB_LIBRARY ${ZLIB_DIR}/lib/zlib.lib)
-    else()
-      set(ZLIB_LIBRARY ${ZLIB_DIR}/lib/libzlib.a)
+    find_library(ZLIB_LIBRARY_RELEASE NAMES zlib
+                 PATHS ${ZLIB_DIR}
+                 PATH_SUFFIXES lib lib/Release
+                 NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+    find_library(ZLIB_LIBRARY_DEBUG NAMES zlibd
+                 PATHS ${ZLIB_DIR}
+                 PATH_SUFFIXES lib lib/Debug
+                 NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+
+    set(ZLIB_LIBRARY )
+    if(ZLIB_LIBRARY_RELEASE)
+      list(APPEND ZLIB_LIBRARY release ${ZLIB_LIBRARY_RELEASE})
+      install(FILES ${ZLIB_LIBRARY_RELEASE}
+              DESTINATION lib
+              CONFIGURATIONS Release
+              COMPONENT dev)
     endif()
-    install(FILES ${ZLIB_LIBRARY}
-            DESTINATION lib
-            COMPONENT dev)
+    if(ZLIB_LIBRARY_DEBUG)
+      list(APPEND ZLIB_LIBRARY debug ${ZLIB_LIBRARY_DEBUG})
+      install(FILES ${ZLIB_LIBRARY_DEBUG}
+              DESTINATION lib
+              CONFIGURATIONS Debug
+              COMPONENT dev)
+    endif()
+
   else()
     mitkMacroEmptyExternalProject(${proj} "${proj_DEPENDENCIES}")
   endif()
 endif()