diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index be62e75c..40a01a56 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 - drop "Page" from uiTab method names? (uiTabAppendPage() -> uiTabAppend())
 - override dock menu quit item to act like our app menu quit item
 - consider calling setAppleMenu: for the application menu; it doesn't seem to make much of a difference but
+- I have a feeling the container enable/disable logic we have won't work with two levels of controls to enable...
 
 ultimately:
 - add some sort of runtime type checking
diff --git a/ui_windows.h b/ui_windows.h
index 0996a5db..7c24a4d1 100644
--- a/ui_windows.h
+++ b/ui_windows.h
@@ -54,4 +54,15 @@ extern intmax_t uiWindowsWindowTextWidth(HWND hwnd);
 extern char *uiWindowsControlText(uiControl *);
 extern void uiWindowsControlSetText(uiControl *, const char *);
 
+struct uiControlSysFuncParams {
+	int Func;
+};
+
+enum {
+	// These should enable and disable the uiControl while preserving the user enable/disable setting.
+	// These are needed because while disabling a parent window does cause children to stop receiving events, they are not shown as disabled, which is not what we want.
+	uiWindowsSysFuncContainerEnable,
+	uiWindowsSysFuncContainerDisable,
+};
+
 #endif
diff --git a/windows/bin.c b/windows/bin.c
index ff7ec287..408c59f5 100644
--- a/windows/bin.c
+++ b/windows/bin.c
@@ -47,6 +47,14 @@ void binPreferredSize(uiControl *c, uiSizing *d, intmax_t *width, intmax_t *heig
 	*height += marginY;
 }
 
+static void binSysFunc(uiControl *c, uiControlSysFuncParams *p)
+{
+	struct bin *b = (struct bin *) c;
+
+	if (b->mainControl != NULL)
+		uiControlSysFunc(b->mainControl, p);
+}
+
 void binResizeChildren(uiContainer *c, intmax_t x, intmax_t y, intmax_t width, intmax_t height, uiSizing *d)
 {
 	struct bin *b = (struct bin *) c;
@@ -74,6 +82,7 @@ uiContainer *newBin(void)
 	b->baseDestroy = uiControl(b)->Destroy;
 	uiControl(b)->Destroy = binDestroy;
 	uiControl(b)->PreferredSize = binPreferredSize;
+	uiControl(b)->SysFunc = binSysFunc;
 
 	uiContainer(b)->ResizeChildren = binResizeChildren;
 
diff --git a/windows/newcontrol.c b/windows/newcontrol.c
index 9a0270ab..ca1628e8 100644
--- a/windows/newcontrol.c
+++ b/windows/newcontrol.c
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ struct singleHWND {
 	void *onDestroyData;
 	uiContainer *parent;
 	int hidden;
+	int userDisabled;
+	int containerDisabled;
 };
 
 static void singleDestroy(uiControl *c)
@@ -91,16 +93,37 @@ static void singleEnable(uiControl *c)
 {
 	singleHWND *s = (singleHWND *) (c->Internal);
 
-	EnableWindow(s->hwnd, TRUE);
+	s->userDisabled = 0;
+	if (!s->containerDisabled)
+		EnableWindow(s->hwnd, TRUE);
 }
 
 static void singleDisable(uiControl *c)
 {
 	singleHWND *s = (singleHWND *) (c->Internal);
 
+	s->userDisabled = 1;
 	EnableWindow(s->hwnd, FALSE);
 }
 
+static void singleEnable(uiControl *c)
+{
+	singleHWND *s = (singleHWND *) (c->Internal);
+
+	switch (p->Func) {
+	case uiWindowsSysFuncContainerEnabled:
+		s->containerDisabled = 0;
+		if (!s->userDisabled)
+			EnableWindow(s->hwnd, TRUE);
+		return;
+	case uiWindowsSysFuncContainerDisable:
+		s->containerDisabled = 1;
+		EnableWindow(s->hwnd, FALSE);
+		return;
+	}
+	complain("unknown p->Func %d in singleSysFunc()", p->Func);
+}
+
 static LRESULT CALLBACK singleSubclassProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam, UINT_PTR uIdSubclass, DWORD_PTR dwRefData)
 {
 	uiControl *c = (uiControl *) dwRefData;
@@ -161,6 +184,7 @@ void uiWindowsMakeControl(uiControl *c, uiWindowsMakeControlParams *p)
 	uiControl(c)->Hide = singleHide;
 	uiControl(c)->Enable = singleEnable;
 	uiControl(c)->Disable = singleDisable;
+	uiControl(c)->SysFunc = singleSysFunc;
 }
 
 char *uiWindowsControlText(uiControl *c)