diff --git a/FindBoost.cmake b/FindBoost.cmake
index 4d8e02c5e86ce33e086cfb9c8273519f8bdc6668..e7926b518232d34083599a3397b5e0f1e0a1e44a 100644
--- a/FindBoost.cmake
+++ b/FindBoost.cmake
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 # This file is NOT an original FindBoost.cmake module provided by KitWare!
 #
 # It's a simplified version whose only purpose is to be used in a software
-# library lib4neuro and it does NOT provide a full funcionality of the original.
+# library lib4neuro and it does NOT provide a full funcionality of the original,
+# as it only works with the system-layout-named libraries (e.g. libboost_system.so).
 
 # Optional user-defined variables
 # (can be passed directly to CMake or exported as environmental variables
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@ message("FindBoost starting...")
 # Check if needed Boost components were specified
 if(NOT Boost_FIND_COMPONENTS)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "No Boost components were specified! Please, set them correctly with flag COMPONENTS (see Module Usage section in this script).")
+else()
+    message("Required Boost components: ${Boost_FIND_COMPONENTS}")
 endif()
 
 # Look for a standard boost header file.
@@ -61,9 +64,11 @@ if(NOT DEPENDENCIES_LINK_TYPE)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Variable DEPENDENCIES_LINK_TYPE is not set! Set it to 'static' or 'shared'.")
 endif()
 
-set(LIB_SUFFIX "a")
+set(LIB_SUFFIX "a")  # suffix for Linux static libraries
 if("${DEPENDENCIES_LINK_TYPE}" STREQUAL "shared" AND WIN32)
     set(LIB_SUFFIX "dll")
+elseif("${DEPENDENCIES_LINK_TYPE}" STREQUAL "static" AND WIN32)
+    se(LIB_SUFFIX "lib")
 elseif("${DEPENDENCIES_LINK_TYPE}" STREQUAL "shared")
     set(LIB_SUFFIX "so")
 endif()
@@ -104,6 +109,8 @@ find_path(
 # targets, so they may be linked
 set(Boost_LIBRARIES "")
 foreach(LIBNAME ${REQUESTED_BOOST_LIBS})
+    message("Looking for ${LIBNAME}...")
+
     set(${LIBNAME} "${LIBNAME}-NOTFOUND")
     find_library(
         ${LIBNAME}
@@ -121,6 +128,12 @@ foreach(LIBNAME ${REQUESTED_BOOST_LIBS})
         NO_DEFAULT_PATH
     )
 
+    # Check, if the Boost component was found
+    if("${LIBNAME}" STREQUAL "${LIBNAME}-NOTFOUND")
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "Boost library ${LIBNAME} was NOT found!
+                             Please, set variable BOOST_LIBRARYDIR to the correct path and check the library names
+                             format in your Boost installation.")
+
     message("${LIBNAME} ${${LIBNAME}}")
 
     # Make the target of the same name as the library
diff --git a/external_dependencies/boost b/external_dependencies/boost
index f7371ecb0652555ec89cb28e58c18fda56685985..507ad00a0ad1ce6e8833f2f529fa1e9150c446c0 160000
--- a/external_dependencies/boost
+++ b/external_dependencies/boost
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit f7371ecb0652555ec89cb28e58c18fda56685985
+Subproject commit 507ad00a0ad1ce6e8833f2f529fa1e9150c446c0
diff --git a/external_dependencies/exprtk b/external_dependencies/exprtk
index 9a8474e7a259fa5348658a651cd19af216749674..9836f21d07b1bf799e6877324268708f61c01f73 160000
--- a/external_dependencies/exprtk
+++ b/external_dependencies/exprtk
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 9a8474e7a259fa5348658a651cd19af216749674
+Subproject commit 9836f21d07b1bf799e6877324268708f61c01f73