diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c71815f7e..4b23b91e1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@ if(NOT WIN32)
 		add_definitions(-DOPENMIND_USE_TBB)
 	endif()
 endif()
-set(OPENMIND_PREFERRED_BOOST_VERSION 1.85.0 CACHE STRING "Boost library version to use")
-set(OPENMIND_REQUIRED_BOOST_VERSION 1.81.0 CACHE STRING "Boost library minimum compatible version to use")
+set(OPENMIND_PREFERRED_BOOST_VERSION 1.83.0 CACHE STRING "Boost library version to use")
+set(OPENMIND_REQUIRED_BOOST_VERSION 1.83.0 CACHE STRING "Boost library minimum compatible version to use")
 set_property(CACHE OPENMIND_PRIME_TABLE PROPERTY STRINGS ${OPENMIND_PRIME_TABLE_OPTIONS})
 
 if(MSVC AND ${CMAKE_VERSION} VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "3.24.0")
@@ -214,18 +214,32 @@ elseif(OPENMIND_USE_CONAN)
 	endif()
 endif()
 
-find_package(Boost ${OPENMIND_PREFERRED_BOOST_VERSION}
-	CONFIG
-	HINTS C:/Boost
-	COMPONENTS ${BOOST_USED_COMPONENTS}
-	)
-if(NOT Boost_FOUND)
-	find_package(Boost ${OPENMIND_REQUIRED_BOOST_VERSION}
-		CONFIG
-		HINTS C:/Boost
-		COMPONENTS ${BOOST_USED_COMPONENTS}
-		)
+find_package(Boost ${OPENMIND_REQUIRED_BOOST_VERSION}
+    COMPONENTS ${BOOST_USED_COMPONENTS}
+    REQUIRED
+)
+
+if(Boost_FOUND)
+    set(Boost_USE_DEBUG_LIBS ON)
+    set(Boost_USE_RELEASE_LIBS ON)
+    message(STATUS "Boost found: ${Boost_VERSION}")
+    message(STATUS "Boost include dirs: ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
+    message(STATUS "Boost library dirs: ${Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS}")
+
+    if(Boost_VERSION VERSION_LESS ${OPENMIND_PREFERRED_BOOST_VERSION})
+        message(WARNING "Found Boost version ${Boost_VERSION} is older than preferred version ${OPENMIND_PREFERRED_BOOST_VERSION}")
+    endif()
+else()
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Boost not found. Please install Boost ${OPENMIND_REQUIRED_BOOST_VERSION} or later, or check your configuration.")
+endif()
+
+if(NOT TARGET Boost::boost)
+    add_library(Boost::boost INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+    set_target_properties(Boost::boost PROPERTIES
+        INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}"
+    )
 endif()
+
 add_custom_target(prerequisites)
 set_target_properties(prerequisites PROPERTIES FOLDER "util")
 
@@ -350,8 +364,8 @@ if(TARGET boost)
 endif()
 
 set(BOOST_LINK_LIBS
-	Boost::chrono
-	Boost::filesystem
+    Boost::chrono
+    Boost::filesystem
     Boost::serialization
     Boost::system
     )
@@ -361,17 +375,40 @@ if(NOT MSVC OR Boost_VERSION VERSION_LESS 1.80.0)
 endif()
 set(BOOST_TEST_LINK_LIBS
     ${BOOST_LINK_LIBS}
-    Boost::test_exec_monitor
-	Boost::unit_test_framework
+    Boost::unit_test_framework
     )
 
+# Search for libboost_test_exec_monitor.a in various possible locations
+set(BOOST_TEST_EXEC_MONITOR_PATHS
+    "${Boost_LIBRARY_DIR_RELEASE}/manual-link/libboost_test_exec_monitor.a"
+    "${Boost_LIBRARY_DIR_DEBUG}/manual-link/libboost_test_exec_monitor.a"
+    "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/lib/manual-link/libboost_test_exec_monitor.a"
+    "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/debug/lib/manual-link/libboost_test_exec_monitor.a"
+)
+
+set(BOOST_TEST_EXEC_MONITOR_FOUND FALSE)
+foreach(TEST_EXEC_MONITOR_PATH ${BOOST_TEST_EXEC_MONITOR_PATHS})
+    if(EXISTS "${TEST_EXEC_MONITOR_PATH}")
+        set(BOOST_TEST_LINK_LIBS ${BOOST_TEST_LINK_LIBS} "${TEST_EXEC_MONITOR_PATH}")
+        set(BOOST_TEST_EXEC_MONITOR_FOUND TRUE)
+        break()
+    endif()
+endforeach()
+
+if(NOT BOOST_TEST_EXEC_MONITOR_FOUND)
+    message(WARNING "libboost_test_exec_monitor.a not found in any of the searched directories")
+endif()
+
 IF (Boost_FOUND)
-    message("Boost_FOUND")
-    message("Boost_DIR: ${Boost_DIR}")
-    message("Boost_INCLUDE_DIR: ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR}")
-    message("EXTERNAL_FETCHED_BOOST: ${EXTERNAL_FETCHED_BOOST}")
-    message("Boost_LIBRARY_DIR: ${Boost_LIBRARY_DIR}")
-    message("Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS: ${Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS}")
+    message(STATUS "Boost found:")
+    message(STATUS "  Boost_DIR: ${Boost_DIR}")
+    message(STATUS "  Boost_INCLUDE_DIR: ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR}")
+    message(STATUS "  Boost_LIBRARY_DIR: ${Boost_LIBRARY_DIR}")
+    message(STATUS "  Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS: ${Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS}")
+    message(STATUS "  Boost_VERSION: ${Boost_VERSION}")
+    message(STATUS "  Boost_LIBRARIES: ${Boost_LIBRARIES}")
+ELSE()
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Boost not found. Please install Boost or check your configuration.")
 ENDIF()
 
 
diff --git a/cmake/vcpkg.cmake b/cmake/vcpkg.cmake
index 39ef5a4fc..5a3144b03 100644
--- a/cmake/vcpkg.cmake
+++ b/cmake/vcpkg.cmake
@@ -1,57 +1,70 @@
-
 macro(find_vcpkg)
-    if(NOT EXISTS ${CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE})
-        if(NOT EXISTS ${VCPKG_EXECUTABLE})
-	        find_program(VCPKG_EXECUTABLE vcpkg PATHS
-		        "$ENV{ProgramFiles}/Microsoft Visual Studio/*/*/VC/vcpkg/"
-		        "$ENV{USERPROFILE}$ENV{HOME}/vcpkg/"
-	        )
-	        if (EXISTS ${VCPKG_EXECUTABLE})
-		        get_filename_component(dir ${VCPKG_EXECUTABLE} DIRECTORY)
-		        set(CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE "${dir}/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake" CACHE STRING "Vcpkg toolchain file")
-	        endif ()
-        endif()
-        if(EXISTS ${CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE})
-            set(VCPKG_FOUND TRUE CACHE BOOL "VCPKG toolchain file found ${CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE}")
-        endif()
+    if(NOT DEFINED VCPKG_ROOT)
+        set(VCPKG_ROOT "$ENV{VCPKG_ROOT}" CACHE PATH "Path to vcpkg installation")
+    endif()
+
+    if(EXISTS "${VCPKG_ROOT}/vcpkg")
+        set(VCPKG_EXECUTABLE "${VCPKG_ROOT}/vcpkg" CACHE FILEPATH "Path to vcpkg executable")
+    else()
+        find_program(VCPKG_EXECUTABLE vcpkg PATHS
+            "$ENV{ProgramFiles}/Microsoft Visual Studio/*/*/VC/vcpkg/"
+            "$ENV{USERPROFILE}/vcpkg/"
+            "$ENV{HOME}/vcpkg/"
+        )
+    endif()
+
+    if(EXISTS ${VCPKG_EXECUTABLE})
+        get_filename_component(VCPKG_ROOT ${VCPKG_EXECUTABLE} DIRECTORY)
+        set(CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE "${VCPKG_ROOT}/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake" CACHE STRING "Vcpkg toolchain file")
+        set(VCPKG_FOUND TRUE CACHE BOOL "VCPKG found")
+    else()
+        set(VCPKG_FOUND FALSE CACHE BOOL "VCPKG not found")
     endif()
 endmacro()
 
 macro(fetch_vcpkg)
-	include(gitect)
-	if(GIT_EXECUTABLE)
-		execute_process(
-			COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg
-				WORKING_DIRECTORY $ENV{USERPROFILE}$ENV{HOME}
-			)
-		execute_process(
-			COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} --build .
-			WORKING_DIRECTORY ${vcpkg_SOURCE_DIR}
-		)
-	endif()
+    include(gitect)
+    if(GIT_EXECUTABLE)
+        set(VCPKG_ROOT "$ENV{HOME}/vcpkg" CACHE PATH "Path to vcpkg installation")
+        execute_process(
+            COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg ${VCPKG_ROOT}
+            RESULT_VARIABLE GIT_RESULT
+        )
+        if(NOT GIT_RESULT EQUAL 0)
+            message(FATAL_ERROR "Failed to clone vcpkg repository")
+        endif()
+        execute_process(
+            COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E chdir ${VCPKG_ROOT} ${VCPKG_ROOT}/bootstrap-vcpkg.sh
+            RESULT_VARIABLE BOOTSTRAP_RESULT
+        )
+        if(NOT BOOTSTRAP_RESULT EQUAL 0)
+            message(FATAL_ERROR "Failed to bootstrap vcpkg")
+        endif()
+        set(VCPKG_EXECUTABLE "${VCPKG_ROOT}/vcpkg" CACHE FILEPATH "Path to vcpkg executable" FORCE)
+        set(CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE "${VCPKG_ROOT}/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake" CACHE STRING "Vcpkg toolchain file" FORCE)
+        set(VCPKG_FOUND TRUE CACHE BOOL "VCPKG found" FORCE)
+    endif()
 endmacro()
 
-if(NOT ${VCPKG_FOUND})
-	find_vcpkg()
-endif()
+find_vcpkg()
 
-option(OPENMIND_USE_VCPKG "Use vcpkg" ${VCPKG_FOUND})
+option(OPENMIND_USE_VCPKG "Use vcpkg" ON)
 
 if(OPENMIND_USE_VCPKG)
-    if(NOT ${VCPKG_FOUND})
-		find_vcpkg()
-	endif()
-    if(NOT ${VCPKG_FOUND})
-		fetch_vcpkg()
-		find_vcpkg()
-	endif()
-    if(NOT ${VCPKG_FOUND})
-		message(FATAL_ERROR "VCPKG is required but not found")
-	endif()
-	if(VCPKG_EXECUTABLE)
-		execute_process(
-			COMMAND ${VCPKG_EXECUTABLE} install
-			WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
-		)
-	endif()
-endif (OPENMIND_USE_VCPKG)
+    if(NOT VCPKG_FOUND)
+        fetch_vcpkg()
+    endif()
+    if(NOT VCPKG_FOUND)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "VCPKG is required but not found")
+    endif()
+    if(VCPKG_EXECUTABLE)
+        execute_process(
+            COMMAND ${VCPKG_EXECUTABLE} install
+            WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
+            RESULT_VARIABLE VCPKG_RESULT
+        )
+        if(NOT VCPKG_RESULT EQUAL 0)
+            message(FATAL_ERROR "Failed to install dependencies using vcpkg")
+        endif()
+    endif()
+endif()