diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index 1e1712964deea7bb787f82d1baaec01dd145cdb2..d0e4f72b4ca1a344af41f9d535fc7fc38a812ff5 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -9,39 +9,40 @@ os:
 platform:
   - x86
 
+# install:
+#   ### Having trouble with enabling python on windows
+#   - set PATH=C:\Python27-x64;C:\Python27-x64\Scripts;%PATH%
+#   - "python.exe -m pip install numpy"
+
+# init:
+#  - ps: iex ((new-object net.webclient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/appveyor/ci/master/scripts/enable-rdp.ps1'))
+
 before_build:
 - del /q /f "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Microsoft.Common.targets\ImportAfter\Xamarin.Common.targets"
+- cd C:\projects\adios2
+- git reset --hard %APPVEYOR_PULL_REQUEST_HEAD_COMMIT%
 - ps: |
     $env:CUSTOM_BUILD_NAME = ("{0}_{1}_vs{2}" -f $env:APPVEYOR_PULL_REQUEST_HEAD_REPO_BRANCH, $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_NUMBER, $env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE.split()[2] )
-    if ($env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE -eq "Visual Studio 2015")
-    {
-      Write-Host "This build will push the shared notes"
-      $env:DO_PUSH_NOTES = "TRUE"
-    } else {
-    Write-Host "This build will only pushed the CMake cache"
-      $env:DO_PUSH_NOTES = "FALSE"
-    }
 - ctest.exe -VV -S ../adios2/scripts\appveyor\av_default.cmake
     -Ddashboard_full=OFF
     -Ddashboard_do_update=true
     -DCTEST_BUILD_NAME=%CUSTOM_BUILD_NAME%
-    -DADIOS_CTEST_SUBMIT_NOTES=%DO_PUSH_NOTES%
 
 build_script:
 - ctest.exe -VV -S ../adios2/scripts\appveyor\av_default.cmake
     -Ddashboard_full=OFF
     -Ddashboard_do_configure=true
     -DCTEST_BUILD_NAME=%CUSTOM_BUILD_NAME%
-    -DADIOS_CTEST_SUBMIT_NOTES=true
 - ctest.exe -VV -S ../adios2/scripts\appveyor\av_default.cmake
     -Ddashboard_full=OFF
     -Ddashboard_do_build=true
     -DCTEST_BUILD_NAME=%CUSTOM_BUILD_NAME%
-    -DADIOS_CTEST_SUBMIT_NOTES=%DO_PUSH_NOTES%
 
 test_script:
 - ctest.exe -VV -S ../adios2/scripts\appveyor\av_default.cmake
     -Ddashboard_full=OFF
     -Ddashboard_do_test=true
     -DCTEST_BUILD_NAME=%CUSTOM_BUILD_NAME%
-    -DADIOS_CTEST_SUBMIT_NOTES=%DO_PUSH_NOTES%
+
+# on_finish:
+#  - ps: $blockRdp = $true; iex ((new-object net.webclient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/appveyor/ci/master/scripts/enable-rdp.ps1'))
diff --git a/scripts/appveyor/av_default.cmake b/scripts/appveyor/av_default.cmake
index 717d6bbe1fede8ff4910712e8b93ff493174d404..81ad4fbbb1c51f6eb0649f3b939f0bdbe54afd2d 100644
--- a/scripts/appveyor/av_default.cmake
+++ b/scripts/appveyor/av_default.cmake
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 # Client maintainer: chuck.atkins@kitware.com
 set(CTEST_SITE "AppVeyor")
 set(CTEST_BUILD_CONFIGURATION Release)
+set(CTEST_CONFIGURATION_TYPE Release)
 set(CTEST_CMAKE_GENERATOR "Visual Studio 14 2015 Win64")
-# set(CTEST_BUILD_FLAGS "-k -j4")
 set(CTEST_TEST_ARGS PARALLEL_LEVEL 4)
 
 message("av_default.cmake, CTEST_BUILD_NAME=${CTEST_BUILD_NAME}, push build notes is ADIOS_CTEST_SUBMIT_NOTES=${ADIOS_CTEST_SUBMIT_NOTES}")
diff --git a/testing/adios2/interface/TestADIOSDefineAttribute.cpp b/testing/adios2/interface/TestADIOSDefineAttribute.cpp
index f9942b5fa5ff5c5fffdd1554745dc6d83740e87e..70d25a10d0a37a1d68c4c9bf039ad2922a655781 100644
--- a/testing/adios2/interface/TestADIOSDefineAttribute.cpp
+++ b/testing/adios2/interface/TestADIOSDefineAttribute.cpp
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSDefineAttributeTest, DefineAttributeTypeByValue)
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Name, i64_Single);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_DataSingleValue, currentTestData.I64.front());
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Elements, 1);
-    EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Type, "long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(sizeof(attributeI64.m_DataSingleValue), 8);
 
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeU8.m_IsSingleValue, true);
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeU8.m_DataArray.empty(), true);
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSDefineAttributeTest, DefineAttributeTypeByValue)
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Name, u64_Single);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_DataSingleValue, currentTestData.U64.front());
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Elements, 1);
-    EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Type, "unsigned long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(sizeof(attributeU64.m_DataSingleValue), 8);
 
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeFloat.m_IsSingleValue, true);
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeFloat.m_DataArray.empty(), true);
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSDefineAttributeTest, DefineAttributeTypeByReference)
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeI64.m_DataArray.empty(), false);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Name, i64_Single);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Elements, numberOfElements);
-    EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Type, "long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(sizeof(attributeI64.m_DataSingleValue), 8);
 
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeU8.m_IsSingleValue, false);
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeU8.m_DataArray.empty(), false);
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSDefineAttributeTest, DefineAttributeTypeByReference)
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeU64.m_DataArray.empty(), false);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Name, u64_Single);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Elements, numberOfElements);
-    EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Type, "unsigned long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(sizeof(attributeU64.m_DataSingleValue), 8);
 
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeFloat.m_IsSingleValue, false);
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeFloat.m_DataArray.empty(), false);
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSDefineAttributeTest, GetAttribute)
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeI64.m_DataArray.empty(), false);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Name, i64_Single);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Elements, numberOfElements);
-    EXPECT_EQ(attributeI64.m_Type, "long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(sizeof(attributeI64.m_DataSingleValue), 8);
 
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeU8.m_IsSingleValue, false);
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeU8.m_DataArray.empty(), false);
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSDefineAttributeTest, GetAttribute)
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeU64.m_DataArray.empty(), false);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Name, u64_Single);
     EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Elements, numberOfElements);
-    EXPECT_EQ(attributeU64.m_Type, "unsigned long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(sizeof(attributeU64.m_DataSingleValue), 8);
 
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeFloat.m_IsSingleValue, false);
     ASSERT_EQ(attributeFloat.m_DataArray.empty(), false);
diff --git a/testing/adios2/interface/TestADIOSInterfaceWrite.cpp b/testing/adios2/interface/TestADIOSInterfaceWrite.cpp
index 1246fedb89dc396e4df599a631c2bd934df30c01..ff5513afe6235ae2907ed947101dc804deae8f45 100644
--- a/testing/adios2/interface/TestADIOSInterfaceWrite.cpp
+++ b/testing/adios2/interface/TestADIOSInterfaceWrite.cpp
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSInterfaceWriteTest, DefineVar_int64_t_1x10)
     EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_Count.size(), 1);
     EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_Count[0], 10);
     EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_Name, name);
-    EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_Type, "long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_ElementSize, 8);
 }
 
 TEST_F(ADIOSInterfaceWriteTest, DefineVar_uint8_t_1x10)
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSInterfaceWriteTest, DefineVar_uint64_t_1x10)
     EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_Count.size(), 1);
     EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_Count[0], 10);
     EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_Name, name);
-    EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_Type, "unsigned long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_ElementSize, 8);
 }
 
 // Rinse  and repeat for remaining types
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSInterfaceWriteTest, DefineVar_int64_t_2x5)
     EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_Count[0], 2);
     EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_Count[1], 5);
     EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_Name, name);
-    EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_Type, "long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(var_int64_t.m_ElementSize, 8);
 }
 
 TEST_F(ADIOSInterfaceWriteTest, DefineVar_uint8_t_2x5)
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ TEST_F(ADIOSInterfaceWriteTest, DefineVar_uint64_t_2x5)
     EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_Count[0], 2);
     EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_Count[1], 5);
     EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_Name, name);
-    EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_Type, "unsigned long int");
+    EXPECT_EQ(var_uint64_t.m_ElementSize, 8);
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
diff --git a/testing/adios2/xml/TestXMLConfig.cpp b/testing/adios2/xml/TestXMLConfig.cpp
index 5d3cb161b01080cd33a19083516deba70d3caaaa..72bbdffe52e229c78536220221a52d0058064dfb 100644
--- a/testing/adios2/xml/TestXMLConfig.cpp
+++ b/testing/adios2/xml/TestXMLConfig.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ protected:
 TEST_F(XMLConfigTest, TwoIOs)
 {
     std::string configFile = configDir + "/config1.xml";
+
 #ifdef ADIOS2_HAVE_MPI
     adios2::ADIOS adios(configFile, MPI_COMM_WORLD, adios2::DebugON);
 #else
diff --git a/testing/adios2/xml/config1.xml b/testing/adios2/xml/config1.xml
index 9afe2d91037b232930a37ad48ad962d88dd27d07..f4d644631d02988df4d6c31248f3bab323e3c415 100644
--- a/testing/adios2/xml/config1.xml
+++ b/testing/adios2/xml/config1.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
             <parameter key="BufferGrowthFactor" value="2"/>
         </engine>
         <transport type="File">
-            <parameter key="Library" value="POSIX"/>
+            <parameter key="Library" value="fstream"/>
             <parameter key="ProfileUnits" value="Milliseconds"/>
         </transport>
     </io>