diff --git a/Modules/Bundles/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/QmitkExtFileOpenAction.cpp b/Modules/Bundles/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/QmitkExtFileOpenAction.cpp
index c9724631c6..6e1fcca883 100644
--- a/Modules/Bundles/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/QmitkExtFileOpenAction.cpp
+++ b/Modules/Bundles/org.mitk.gui.qt.ext/src/QmitkExtFileOpenAction.cpp
@@ -1,208 +1,209 @@
 /*=========================================================================
 
 Program:   Medical Imaging & Interaction Toolkit
 Language:  C++
 Date:      $Date: 2010-01-16 19:57:43 +0100 (Sa, 16 Jan 2010) $
 Version:   $Revision: 21070 $
 
 Copyright (c) German Cancer Research Center, Division of Medical and
 Biological Informatics. All rights reserved.
 See MITKCopyright.txt or http://www.mitk.org/copyright.html for details.
 
 This software is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
 the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
 PURPOSE.  See the above copyright notices for more information.
 
 =========================================================================*/
 
 #include "QmitkExtFileOpenAction.h"
 
 #include <QFileDialog>
 #include <QFileInfo>
 #include <mitkDataNodeFactory.h>
 
 #include "mitkCoreObjectFactory.h"
 #include "mitkSceneIO.h"
 #include "mitkProgressBar.h"
 
 #include <mitkCoreExtObjectFactory.h>
 #include <mitkDataStorageEditorInput.h>
 #include <berryIEditorPart.h>
 #include <berryIWorkbenchPage.h>
 #include <berryIPreferencesService.h>
 #include <berryIWorkbench.h>
 #include <berryPlatform.h>
 
 #include "mitkProperties.h"
 #include "mitkNodePredicateData.h"
 #include "mitkNodePredicateNot.h"
 #include "mitkNodePredicateProperty.h"
 
 
 #include "QmitkStdMultiWidgetEditor.h"
 
 QmitkExtFileOpenAction::QmitkExtFileOpenAction(berry::IWorkbenchWindow::Pointer window)
 : QAction(0)
 {
   this->init(window);
 }
 
 QmitkExtFileOpenAction::QmitkExtFileOpenAction(const QIcon & icon, berry::IWorkbenchWindow::Pointer window)
 : QAction(0)
 {
   this->setIcon(icon);
 
   this->init(window);
 }
 
 void QmitkExtFileOpenAction::init(berry::IWorkbenchWindow::Pointer window)
 {
   m_Window = window;
   this->setParent(static_cast<QWidget*>(m_Window->GetShell()->GetControl()));
   this->setText("&Open...");
   this->setToolTip("Open data files (images, surfaces,...) and project files (.mitk)");
 
   berry::IPreferencesService::Pointer prefService
     = berry::Platform::GetServiceRegistry()
     .GetServiceById<berry::IPreferencesService>(berry::IPreferencesService::ID);
   
   m_GeneralPreferencesNode = prefService->GetSystemPreferences()->Node("/General");
 
   this->connect(this, SIGNAL(triggered(bool)), this, SLOT(Run()));
 }
 
 void QmitkExtFileOpenAction::Run()
 {
   /**
   * @brief stores the last path of last opened file
   */
   static QString m_LastPath;
 
   if(m_GeneralPreferencesNode.Lock().IsNotNull())
   {
     if(m_LastPath.isEmpty())
       m_LastPath = QString::fromStdString(m_GeneralPreferencesNode.Lock()->Get("LastFileOpenPath", ""));
   }
 
 
   //QFileDialog dialog(static_cast<QWidget*>(m_Window->GetShell()->GetControl()));
   //dialog.setFileMode(QFileDialog::ExistingFiles);
   //QStringList filters;
   //filters << "Images (*.pic *.pic.gz *.vti *.dcm *.nhdr *.nrrd *.mhd)" 
   //  << "Surfaces (*.stl *.vtk *.vtp)"
   //  << "MITK Pointset (*.mps)"
   //  << "All Files (*.*)";
   //dialog.setFilters(filters);
 
   std::stringstream ss;
   ss << mitk::CoreObjectFactory::GetInstance()->GetFileExtensions();
 
   std::string fileExtensions = ss.str();
   fileExtensions.append(";;MITK Scene Files (*.mitk)");
   fileExtensions.insert( fileExtensions.find("all (") + 5, "*.mitk " );
 
   QStringList fileNames = QFileDialog::getOpenFileNames(NULL, "Open", m_LastPath, fileExtensions.c_str() );
 
   //if (dialog.exec())
   //  fileNames = dialog.selectedFiles();
 
   if (fileNames.empty()) 
     return;
 
   // check if there is an open perspective, if not open the default perspective
   if (m_Window->GetActivePage().IsNull())
   {
     std::string defaultPerspId = m_Window->GetWorkbench()->GetPerspectiveRegistry()->GetDefaultPerspective();
     m_Window->GetWorkbench()->ShowPerspective(defaultPerspId, m_Window);
   }
 
   QFileInfo info(fileNames.at(0));
   m_LastPath = info.filePath();
 
   if(m_GeneralPreferencesNode.Lock().IsNotNull())
   {
     m_GeneralPreferencesNode.Lock()->Put("LastFileOpenPath", m_LastPath.toStdString());
     m_GeneralPreferencesNode.Lock()->Flush();
   }
 
   mitk::DataStorageEditorInput::Pointer editorInput;
   mitk::DataStorage::Pointer dataStorage;
   QmitkStdMultiWidgetEditor::Pointer multiWidgetEditor;
   berry::IEditorPart::Pointer editor = m_Window->GetActivePage()->GetActiveEditor();
   
   if (editor.Cast<QmitkStdMultiWidgetEditor>().IsNull())
   {
     editorInput = new mitk::DataStorageEditorInput();
     dataStorage = editorInput->GetDataStorageReference()->GetDataStorage();
   }
   else
   {
     multiWidgetEditor = editor.Cast<QmitkStdMultiWidgetEditor>();
     dataStorage = multiWidgetEditor->GetEditorInput().Cast<mitk::DataStorageEditorInput>()->GetDataStorageReference()->GetDataStorage();
   }
 
   if (multiWidgetEditor.IsNull())
   {
     berry::IEditorPart::Pointer editor = m_Window->GetActivePage()->OpenEditor(editorInput, QmitkStdMultiWidgetEditor::EDITOR_ID);
     multiWidgetEditor = editor.Cast<QmitkStdMultiWidgetEditor>();
   }
   else
   {
     multiWidgetEditor->GetStdMultiWidget()->RequestUpdate();
   }
 
   bool dsmodified = false;
   
   for (QStringList::Iterator fileName = fileNames.begin();
     fileName != fileNames.end(); ++fileName)
   {
     if ( fileName->right(5) == ".mitk" ) 
     {
       mitk::SceneIO::Pointer sceneIO = mitk::SceneIO::New();
 
       bool clearDataStorageFirst(false);
       mitk::ProgressBar::GetInstance()->AddStepsToDo(2);
       dataStorage = sceneIO->LoadScene( fileName->toLocal8Bit().constData(), dataStorage, clearDataStorageFirst );
       dsmodified = true;
       mitk::ProgressBar::GetInstance()->Progress(2);
     }
     else
     {
       mitk::DataNodeFactory::Pointer nodeReader = mitk::DataNodeFactory::New();
       try
       {
-        nodeReader->SetFileName(fileName->toStdString());
+        // the ITK Nrrd file reader cannot handle '/' in file path on Win 64bit
+        nodeReader->SetFileName(QDir::fromNativeSeparators(*fileName).toStdString());
         nodeReader->Update();
         for ( unsigned int i = 0 ; i < nodeReader->GetNumberOfOutputs( ); ++i )
         {
           mitk::DataNode::Pointer node;
           node = nodeReader->GetOutput(i);
           if ( node->GetData() != NULL )
           {  
             dataStorage->Add(node);
             dsmodified = true;
           }
         }
       }
       catch(...)
       {
 
       }
     }
   }
 
 
   if(dsmodified)
   {
     // get all nodes that have not set "includeInBoundingBox" to false
     mitk::NodePredicateNot::Pointer pred 
       = mitk::NodePredicateNot::New(mitk::NodePredicateProperty::New("includeInBoundingBox"
       , mitk::BoolProperty::New(false)));
 
     mitk::DataStorage::SetOfObjects::ConstPointer rs = dataStorage->GetSubset(pred);
     // calculate bounding geometry of these nodes
     mitk::TimeSlicedGeometry::Pointer bounds = dataStorage->ComputeBoundingGeometry3D(rs);
     // initialize the views to the bounding geometry
     mitk::RenderingManager::GetInstance()->InitializeViews(bounds);
   }
 }