diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-deps-ci-action.yml b/.github/workflows/build-deps-ci-action.yml
index e584bf9c1d50..2ebd8b77cacf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-deps-ci-action.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-deps-ci-action.yml
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ jobs:
     if: ${{ inputs.kind  == 'windows' }}
     env:
       USE_S3_CACHE: 'false'
+      GITHUB_WORKSPACE: 'C:\Windows\Temp\testing'
     timeout-minutes: 90
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -312,6 +313,7 @@ jobs:
           python3 -c "import os; os.makedirs('artifacts', exist_ok=True)"
           cd artifacts
           tar xvf ${{ inputs.package-name }}-${{ inputs.salt-version }}-onedir-windows-${{ matrix.arch }}.tar.xz
+
       - name: Set up Python ${{ inputs.python-version }}
         if: steps.nox-dependencies-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-packages-action-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/test-packages-action-windows.yml
index c13aa143f689..f239e158994a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-packages-action-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-packages-action-windows.yml
@@ -117,11 +117,17 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
 
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ inputs.python-version }}
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "${{ inputs.python-version }}"
+
       - name: "Throttle Builds"
         shell: bash
         run: |
           t=$(python3 -c 'import random, sys; sys.stdout.write(str(random.randint(1, 15)))'); echo "Sleeping $t seconds"; sleep "$t"
 
+
       - name: "Set `TIMESTAMP` environment variable"
         shell: bash
         run: |
@@ -134,24 +140,13 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: ${{ inputs.package-name }}-${{ inputs.salt-version }}-${{ inputs.arch }}-${{ inputs.pkg-type }}
-          path: artifacts/pkg/
+          path: ./artifacts/pkg/
 
       - name: Download Onedir Tarball as an Artifact
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: ${{ inputs.package-name }}-${{ inputs.salt-version }}-onedir-${{ inputs.platform }}-${{ inputs.arch }}.tar.xz
-          path: artifacts/
-
-      - name: Set up Python ${{ inputs.python-version }}
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        with:
-          python-version: "${{ inputs.python-version }}"
-
-      - name: Install Nox
-        run: |
-          python3 -m pip install 'nox==${{ inputs.nox-version }}'
-        env:
-          PIP_INDEX_URL: https://pypi.org/simple
+          path: ./artifacts/
 
       - name: Decompress Onedir Tarball
         shell: bash
@@ -160,9 +155,13 @@ jobs:
           cd artifacts
           tar xvf ${{ inputs.package-name }}-${{ inputs.salt-version }}-onedir-${{ inputs.platform }}-${{ inputs.arch }}.tar.xz
 
-      - name: List Packages
+      - name: Install Nox
         run: |
-          tree artifacts/pkg/
+          python3 -m pip install 'nox==${{ inputs.nox-version }}'
+        env:
+          PIP_INDEX_URL: https://pypi.org/simple
+
+      - run: python3 --version
 
       - name: Download nox.windows.${{ inputs.arch }}.tar.* artifact for session ${{ inputs.nox-session }}
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
@@ -173,25 +172,30 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           nox --force-color -e decompress-dependencies -- windows ${{ inputs.arch }}
 
-      - name: Rename salt directory
-        run: ren ./salt ./salt-bak
+      - name: Find and remove pyc files
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+           find . -name '*.pyc' -delete
+           find .nox -name '*.pyc' -delete
+
+      - name: List Packages
+        run: |
+          dir .
+          dir artifacts/
+          dir artifacts/pkg
+          dir .nox/ci-test-onedir
+
+      - name: Check nox python
+        continue-on-error: true
+        run: '.nox\ci-test-onedir\Scripts\python.exe' --version
 
       - name: Show System Info
         env:
           SKIP_REQUIREMENTS_INSTALL: "1"
-          PRINT_TEST_SELECTION: "0"
-          PRINT_TEST_PLAN_ONLY: "0"
-          PRINT_SYSTEM_INFO_ONLY: "1"
-          SKIP_INITIAL_ONEDIR_FAILURES: "1"
-          SKIP_INITIAL_GH_ACTIONS_FAILURES: "1"
           SKIP_CODE_COVERAGE: "1"
-          OUTPUT_COLUMNS: "190"
-          GITHUB_ACTIONS_PIPELINE: "1"
-          RAISE_DEPRECATIONS_RUNTIME_ERRORS: "1"
-          TOOLS_DISTRO_SLUG: "${{ inputs.distro-slug }}"
           PYTHONUTF8: "1"
         run: |
-          nox --force-color -f noxfile.py -e "${{ inputs.nox-session }}-pkgs" -- '${{ matrix.tests-chunk }}'
+          nox --force-color -f noxfile.py -e "${{ inputs.nox-session }}-pkgs" -- '${{ matrix.tests-chunk }}' --log-cli-level=debug
 
       - name: Run Package Tests
         env: