diff --git a/tests/test_constructor.py b/tests/test_constructor.py
index 9ba69fd..ac1de8e 100644
--- a/tests/test_constructor.py
+++ b/tests/test_constructor.py
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ class TestCaseConstructor(PexpectTestCase.PexpectTestCase):
         the same results for different styles of invoking __init__().
         This assumes that the root directory / is static during the test.
         '''
-        p1 = wexpect.spawn('uname -m -n -p -r -s -v')
+        p1 = wexpect.spawn('uname -m -n -p -r -s -v', timeout=5, port=4321)
         p1.expect(wexpect.EOF)
-        p2 = wexpect.spawn('uname', ['-m', '-n', '-p', '-r', '-s', '-v'])
+        p2 = wexpect.spawn('uname', ['-m', '-n', '-p', '-r', '-s', '-v'], timeout=5, port=4322)
         p2.expect(wexpect.EOF)
         self.assertEqual(p1.before, p2.before)
         self.assertEqual(str(p1).splitlines()[1:9], str(p2).splitlines()[1:9])
diff --git a/wexpect/__init__.py b/wexpect/__init__.py
index 9f62368..27ffa56 100644
--- a/wexpect/__init__.py
+++ b/wexpect/__init__.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from .console_reader import ConsoleReaderPipe
 
 from .spawn import SpawnSocket
 from .spawn import SpawnPipe
-from .spawn import SpawnPipe as spawn
+from .spawn import SpawnSocket as spawn
 from .spawn import run
 
 __all__ = ['split_command_line', 'join_args', 'ExceptionPexpect', 'EOF', 'TIMEOUT',
diff --git a/wexpect/console_reader.py b/wexpect/console_reader.py
index 8261b50..c429133 100644
--- a/wexpect/console_reader.py
+++ b/wexpect/console_reader.py
@@ -157,14 +157,6 @@ class ConsoleReaderBase:
                 time.sleep(.1)
                 
             
-            self.terminate_child()
-            time.sleep(.1) 
-            self.send_to_host(self.readConsoleToCursor())
-            self.sendeof()
-            time.sleep(.1)
-            self.close_connection()
-            logger.info('Console finished.')
-            
     def read_loop(self):
         paused = False
         
@@ -201,14 +193,10 @@ class ConsoleReaderBase:
             
     def terminate_child(self):
         try:
-            win32process.TerminateProcess(self.__childProcess, 0)
-        except pywintypes.error as e:
-            """ 'Access denied' happens always? Perhaps if not running as admin (or UAC
-            enabled under Vista/7). Don't log. Child process will exit regardless when 
-            calling sys.exit
-            """
-            # if e.args[0] != winerror.ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED:
-            logger.info(e)
+            if self.child_process:
+                self.child_process.kill()
+        except psutil.NoSuchProcess:
+            logger.info('The process has already died.')
         return
         
     def isalive(self, process):
@@ -477,12 +465,13 @@ class ConsoleReaderSocket(ConsoleReaderBase):
             
     def send_to_host(self, msg):
         # convert to bytes
-        msg_bytes = str.encode(msg)
-        if msg_bytes:
-            logger.debug(f'Sending msg: {msg_bytes}')
+        if isinstance(msg, str):
+            msg = str.encode(msg)
+        if msg:
+            logger.debug(f'Sending msg: {msg}')
         else:
-            logger.spam(f'Sending msg: {msg_bytes}')
-        self.connection.sendall(msg_bytes)
+            logger.spam(f'Sending msg: {msg}')
+        self.connection.sendall(msg)
         
     def get_from_host(self):
         try:
@@ -524,12 +513,13 @@ class ConsoleReaderPipe(ConsoleReaderBase):
         
     def send_to_host(self, msg):
         # convert to bytes
-        msg_bytes = str.encode(msg)
-        if msg_bytes:
-            logger.debug(f'Sending msg: {msg_bytes}')
+        if isinstance(msg, str):
+            msg = str.encode(msg)
+        if msg:
+            logger.debug(f'Sending msg: {msg}')
         else:
-            logger.spam(f'Sending msg: {msg_bytes}')
-        win32file.WriteFile(self.pipe, msg_bytes)
+            logger.spam(f'Sending msg: {msg}')
+        win32file.WriteFile(self.pipe, msg)
     
     def get_from_host(self):
         data, avail, bytes_left = win32pipe.PeekNamedPipe(self.pipe, 4096)
diff --git a/wexpect/spawn.py b/wexpect/spawn.py
index 1ead324..4b29eab 100644
--- a/wexpect/spawn.py
+++ b/wexpect/spawn.py
@@ -291,12 +291,14 @@ class SpawnBase:
         garbage collects Python objects, not the child console."""
         
         try:
+            logger.info('Deleting...')
             self.terminate()
             self.disconnect_from_child()
             if self.safe_exit:
                 self.wait()
         except:
             traceback.print_exc()
+            logger.warning(traceback.format_exc())
            
     def __str__(self):
         """This returns a human-readable string that represents the state of