diff --git a/src/msw/dialog.cpp b/src/msw/dialog.cpp
index 398a283a6e..7a39ad3f99 100644
--- a/src/msw/dialog.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/dialog.cpp
@@ -116,8 +116,7 @@ bool wxDialog::Create(wxWindow *parent, wxWindowID id,
     SetBackgroundColour(wxSystemSettings::GetSystemColour(wxSYS_COLOUR_3DFACE));
     SetName(name);
 
-    if (!parent)
-        wxTopLevelWindows.Append(this);
+    wxTopLevelWindows.Append(this);
 
     //  windowFont = wxTheFontList->FindOrCreateFont(11, wxSWISS, wxNORMAL, wxNORMAL);
 
@@ -324,47 +323,45 @@ bool wxDialog::IsModalShowing() const
 void wxDialog::DoShowModal()
 {
     wxCHECK_RET( !IsModalShowing(), _T("DoShowModal() called twice") );
+    wxCHECK_RET( IsModal(), _T("can't DoShowModal() modeless dialog") );
 
     wxModalDialogs.Append(this);
 
     wxWindow *parent = GetParent();
 
-    // remember where the focus was
-    if ( !m_oldFocus )
+    // inside this block, all app windows are disabled
     {
-        m_oldFocus = parent;
-    }
-    if ( !m_oldFocus )
-    {
-        m_oldFocus = wxTheApp->GetTopWindow();
-    }
+        wxWindowDisabler wd(this);
 
-    // disable the parent window first
-    HWND hwndParent = parent ? GetHwndOf(parent) : (HWND)NULL;
-    if ( hwndParent )
-    {
-        ::EnableWindow(hwndParent, FALSE);
-    }
+        // remember where the focus was
+        if ( !m_oldFocus )
+        {
+            m_oldFocus = parent;
+        }
+        if ( !m_oldFocus )
+        {
+            m_oldFocus = wxTheApp->GetTopWindow();
+        }
 
-    // enter the modal loop
-    while ( IsModalShowing() )
-    {
+        // enter the modal loop
+        while ( IsModalShowing() )
+        {
 #if wxUSE_THREADS
-        wxMutexGuiLeaveOrEnter();
+            wxMutexGuiLeaveOrEnter();
 #endif // wxUSE_THREADS
 
-        while ( !wxTheApp->Pending() && wxTheApp->ProcessIdle() )
-            ;
+            while ( !wxTheApp->Pending() && wxTheApp->ProcessIdle() )
+                ;
 
-        // a message came or no more idle processing to do
-        wxTheApp->DoMessage();
+            // a message came or no more idle processing to do
+            wxTheApp->DoMessage();
+        }
     }
 
-    // reenable the parent window if any
-    if ( hwndParent )
-    {
-        ::EnableWindow(hwndParent, TRUE);
-    }
+#ifdef __WIN32__
+    if ( parent )
+        ::SetActiveWindow(GetHwndOf(parent));
+#endif // __WIN32__
 
     // and restore focus
     if ( m_oldFocus && (m_oldFocus != this) )
@@ -405,6 +402,17 @@ bool wxDialog::Show(bool show)
     {
         if ( show )
         {
+            // modal dialog needs a parent window, so try to find one
+            if ( !GetParent() )
+            {
+                wxWindow *parent = wxTheApp->GetTopWindow();
+                if ( parent && parent != this )
+                {
+                    // use it
+                    m_parent = parent;
+                }
+            }
+
             DoShowModal();
         }
         else // end of modal dialog
@@ -418,32 +426,16 @@ bool wxDialog::Show(bool show)
     return TRUE;
 }
 
-// Replacement for Show(TRUE) for modal dialogs - returns return code
+// a special version for Show(TRUE) for modal dialogs which returns return code
 int wxDialog::ShowModal()
 {
-    // modal dialog needs a parent window, so try to find one
-    if ( !GetParent() )
+    if ( !IsModal() )
     {
-        wxWindow *parent = wxTheApp->GetTopWindow();
-        if ( parent && parent != this )
-        {
-            // use it
-            m_parent = parent;
-        }
+        SetModal(TRUE);
     }
 
-    wxWindowDisabler *wd = (wxWindowDisabler *)NULL;
-    if ( !GetParent() )
-    {
-        // still no parent? make the dialog app modal by disabling all windows
-        wd = new wxWindowDisabler(this);
-    }
-
-    m_windowStyle |= wxDIALOG_MODAL;
     Show(TRUE);
 
-    delete wd;
-
     return GetReturnCode();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/msw/frame.cpp b/src/msw/frame.cpp
index f4fd913f3a..9cfba2f987 100644
--- a/src/msw/frame.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/frame.cpp
@@ -163,6 +163,9 @@ wxFrame::~wxFrame()
   m_isBeingDeleted = TRUE;
   wxTopLevelWindows.DeleteObject(this);
 
+  // the ~wxToolBar() code relies on the previous line to be executed before
+  // this one, i.e. the frame should remove itself from wxTopLevelWindows
+  // before destorying its toolbar
   DeleteAllBars();
 
   if (wxTheApp && (wxTopLevelWindows.Number() == 0))
diff --git a/src/msw/tbar95.cpp b/src/msw/tbar95.cpp
index 262c68c996..ab94b91434 100644
--- a/src/msw/tbar95.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/tbar95.cpp
@@ -108,6 +108,10 @@
 // private function prototypes
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+// send a dummy WM_SIZE to the given window: this is used to relayout the frame
+// which contains us
+static void SendResizeMessage(HWND hwnd);
+
 static void wxMapBitmap(HBITMAP hBitmap, int width, int height);
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -258,7 +262,18 @@ bool wxToolBar::Create(wxWindow *parent,
 
 wxToolBar::~wxToolBar()
 {
-    if (m_hBitmap)
+    // we must refresh the frame size when the toolbar is deleted but the frame
+    // is not - otherwise toolbar leaves a hole in the place it used to occupy
+    //
+    // NB: a frame is being deleted only if it is not any longer in
+    //     wxTopLevelWindows list
+    wxFrame *frame = wxDynamicCast(GetParent(), wxFrame);
+    if ( frame && wxTopLevelWindows.Find(frame) )
+    {
+        SendResizeMessage(GetHwndOf(frame));
+    }
+
+    if ( m_hBitmap )
     {
         ::DeleteObject((HBITMAP) m_hBitmap);
     }
@@ -880,15 +895,7 @@ void wxToolBar::UpdateSize()
     wxFrame *frame = wxDynamicCast(GetParent(), wxFrame);
     if ( frame )
     {
-        // don't change the size, we just need to generate a WM_SIZE
-        RECT r;
-        if ( !GetWindowRect(GetHwndOf(frame), &r) )
-        {
-            wxLogLastError(_T("GetWindowRect"));
-        }
-
-        (void)::SendMessage(GetHwndOf(frame), WM_SIZE, SIZE_RESTORED,
-                            MAKELPARAM(r.right - r.left, r.bottom - r.top));
+        SendResizeMessage(GetHwndOf(frame));
     }
 }
 
@@ -998,6 +1005,19 @@ long wxToolBar::MSWWindowProc(WXUINT nMsg, WXWPARAM wParam, WXLPARAM lParam)
 // private functions
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+static void SendResizeMessage(HWND hwnd)
+{
+    // don't change the size, we just need to generate a WM_SIZE
+    RECT r;
+    if ( !::GetWindowRect(hwnd, &r) )
+    {
+        wxLogLastError(_T("GetWindowRect"));
+    }
+
+    (void)::PostMessage(hwnd, WM_SIZE, SIZE_RESTORED,
+                        MAKELPARAM(r.right - r.left, r.bottom - r.top));
+}
+
 // These are the default colors used to map the bitmap colors to the current
 // system colors. Note that they are in BGR format because this is what Windows
 // wants (and not RGB)