diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 76df55e..d280b2a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -290,6 +290,10 @@ A `FileTransferError` object is passed to an error callback when an error occurs
 - 4 = `FileTransferError.ABORT_ERR`
 - 5 = `FileTransferError.NOT_MODIFIED_ERR`
 
+## Windows Quirks
+
+- The plugin implementation is based on [BackgroundDownloader](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/windows.networking.backgroundtransfer.backgrounddownloader.aspx)/[BackgroundUploader](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/windows.networking.backgroundtransfer.backgrounduploader.aspx), which entails the latency issues on Windows devices (creation/starting of an operation can take up to a few seconds). You can use XHR or [HttpClient](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/windows.web.http.httpclient.aspx) as a quicker alternative for small downloads.
+
 ## Backwards Compatibility Notes
 
 Previous versions of this plugin would only accept device-absolute-file-paths as the source for uploads, or as the target for downloads. These paths would typically be of the form
diff --git a/src/windows/FileTransferProxy.js b/src/windows/FileTransferProxy.js
index 2f2d8ed..f26502d 100644
--- a/src/windows/FileTransferProxy.js
+++ b/src/windows/FileTransferProxy.js
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ function nativePathToCordova(path) {
     return String(path).replace(/\\/g, '/');
 }
 
+function alreadyCancelled(opId) {
+    var op = fileTransferOps[opId];
+    return op && op.state === FileTransferOperation.CANCELLED;
+}
+
 var fileTransferOps = [];
 
 function FileTransferOperation(state, promise) {
@@ -116,10 +121,7 @@ exec(win, fail, 'FileTransfer', 'upload',
                 mimeType = storageFile.contentType;
             }
 
-            // check if download isn't already cancelled
-            var uploadOp = fileTransferOps[uploadId];
-            if (uploadOp && uploadOp.state === FileTransferOperation.CANCELLED) {
-                // Here we should call errorCB with ABORT_ERR error
+            if (alreadyCancelled(uploadId)) {
                 errorCallback(new FTErr(FTErr.ABORT_ERR, nativePathToCordova(filePath), server));
                 return;
             }
@@ -166,6 +168,11 @@ exec(win, fail, 'FileTransfer', 'upload',
 
             createUploadOperation.then(
                 function (upload) {
+                    if (alreadyCancelled(uploadId)) {
+                        errorCallback(new FTErr(FTErr.ABORT_ERR, nativePathToCordova(filePath), server));
+                        return;
+                    }
+
                     // update internal TransferOperation object with newly created promise
                     var uploadOperation = upload.startAsync();
                     fileTransferOps[uploadId].promise = uploadOperation;
@@ -298,10 +305,7 @@ exec(win, fail, 'FileTransfer', 'upload',
         var downloadCallback = function(storageFolder) {
             storageFolder.createFileAsync(tempFileName, Windows.Storage.CreationCollisionOption.replaceExisting).then(function (storageFile) {
 
-                // check if download isn't already cancelled
-                var downloadOp = fileTransferOps[downloadId];
-                if (downloadOp && downloadOp.state === FileTransferOperation.CANCELLED) {
-                    // Here we should call errorCB with ABORT_ERR error
+                if (alreadyCancelled(downloadId)) {
                     errorCallback(new FTErr(FTErr.ABORT_ERR, source, target));
                     return;
                 }
@@ -431,6 +435,9 @@ exec(win, fail, 'FileTransfer', 'upload',
         if (currentOp) {
             currentOp.state = FileTransferOperation.CANCELLED;
             currentOp.promise && currentOp.promise.cancel();
+        } else if (typeof fileTransferOpId !== 'undefined') {
+            // Create the operation in cancelled state to be aborted right away
+            fileTransferOps[fileTransferOpId] = new FileTransferOperation(FileTransferOperation.CANCELLED, null);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/tests.js b/tests/tests.js
index dd28bf9..83c5723 100644
--- a/tests/tests.js
+++ b/tests/tests.js
@@ -31,9 +31,11 @@ exports.defineAutoTests = function () {
     var ONE_SECOND = 1000; // in milliseconds
     var GRACE_TIME_DELTA = 600; // in milliseconds
     var DEFAULT_FILESYSTEM_SIZE = 1024 * 50; // filesystem size in bytes
+    var WINDOWS_GRACE_TIME_DELTA = 5 * ONE_SECOND; // Some Windows devices need a few seconds to create an upload/download operation.
     var UNKNOWN_HOST = "http://foobar.apache.org";
     var HEADERS_ECHO = "http://whatheaders.com"; // NOTE: this site is very useful!
     var DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT = 7 * ONE_SECOND;
+    var WINDOWS_UNKNOWN_HOST_TIMEOUT = 35 * ONE_SECOND;
     var UPLOAD_TIMEOUT = 7 * ONE_SECOND;
     var ABORT_DELAY = 100; // for abort() tests
 
@@ -479,7 +481,7 @@ exports.defineAutoTests = function () {
                     var downloadFail = function (error) {
 
                         expect(error.code).toBe(FileTransferError.ABORT_ERR);
-                        expect(new Date() - startTime).toBeLessThan(GRACE_TIME_DELTA);
+                        expect(new Date() - startTime).toBeLessThan(isWindows ? WINDOWS_GRACE_TIME_DELTA : GRACE_TIME_DELTA);
 
                         // delay calling done() to wait for the bogus abort()
                         setTimeout(done, GRACE_TIME_DELTA * 2);
@@ -566,7 +568,7 @@ exports.defineAutoTests = function () {
                     transfer.onprogress = function () {};
 
                     transfer.download(fileURL, localFilePath, unexpectedCallbacks.httpWin, downloadFail);
-                }, DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT);
+                }, isWindows ? WINDOWS_UNKNOWN_HOST_TIMEOUT : DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT);
 
                 it("filetransfer.spec.16 should handle bad file path", function (done) {
                     var fileURL = SERVER;
@@ -830,7 +832,7 @@ exports.defineAutoTests = function () {
 
                     var uploadFail = function (e) {
                         expect(e.code).toBe(FileTransferError.ABORT_ERR);
-                        expect(new Date() - startTime).toBeLessThan(GRACE_TIME_DELTA);
+                        expect(new Date() - startTime).toBeLessThan(isWindows ? WINDOWS_GRACE_TIME_DELTA : GRACE_TIME_DELTA);
 
                         // delay calling done() to wait for the bogus abort()
                         setTimeout(done, GRACE_TIME_DELTA * 2);
@@ -853,7 +855,7 @@ exports.defineAutoTests = function () {
                         }, GRACE_TIME_DELTA);
                     };
 
-                    writeFile(root, fileName, new Array(100000).join("aborttest!"), fileWin);
+                    writeFile(root, fileName, new Array(200000).join("aborttest!"), fileWin);
                 }, UPLOAD_TIMEOUT);
 
                 it("filetransfer.spec.22 should get http status and body on failure", function (done) {