diff --git a/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_winstuff.h b/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_winstuff.h
index 2de6098f6be..8076724a214 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_winstuff.h
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/BLI_winstuff.h
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 #  error "This include is for Windows only!"
 #endif
 
+#include "BLI_sys_types.h"
+
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 
 #include <windows.h>
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ typedef long ssize_t;
 #  endif
 #endif
 
+/* Directory reading compatibility with UNIX. */
 struct dirent {
   int d_ino;
   int d_off;
@@ -99,13 +102,12 @@ typedef struct __dirstream DIR;
 DIR *opendir(const char *path);
 struct dirent *readdir(DIR *dp);
 int closedir(DIR *dp);
-
-void RegisterBlendExtension(void);
-void get_default_root(char *root);
-int check_file_chars(char *filename);
 const char *dirname(char *path);
 
-int BLI_getInstallationDir(char *str);
+/* Windows utility functions. */
+void BLI_windows_register_blend_extension(const bool background);
+void BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir(char *root_dir);
+int BLI_windows_get_executable_dir(char *str);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c
index 67d41ffb779..cde4394a8c3 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/path_util.c
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ void BLI_path_rel(char *file, const char *relfile)
     char *ptemp;
     /* fix missing volume name in relative base,
      * can happen with old recent-files.txt files */
-    get_default_root(temp);
+    BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir(temp);
     ptemp = &temp[2];
     if (relfile[0] != '\\' && relfile[0] != '/') {
       ptemp++;
@@ -1026,7 +1026,7 @@ bool BLI_path_abs(char *path, const char *basepath)
    */
   if (!wasrelative && !BLI_path_is_abs(path)) {
     char *p = path;
-    get_default_root(tmp);
+    BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir(tmp);
     // get rid of the slashes at the beginning of the path
     while (ELEM(*p, '\\', '/')) {
       p++;
@@ -1385,7 +1385,7 @@ void BLI_make_file_string(const char *relabase, char *string, const char *dir, c
         string[3] = '\0';
       }
       else { /* we're out of luck here, guessing the first valid drive, usually c:\ */
-        get_default_root(string);
+        BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir(string);
       }
 
       /* ignore leading slashes */
diff --git a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/winstuff.c b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/winstuff.c
index df7e7107d11..333b6783087 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenlib/intern/winstuff.c
+++ b/source/blender/blenlib/intern/winstuff.c
@@ -36,14 +36,12 @@
 #  include "BLI_utildefines.h"
 #  include "BLI_winstuff.h"
 
-#  include "../blenkernel/BKE_global.h" /* G.background, bad level include (no function calls) */
-
 #  include "utf_winfunc.h"
 #  include "utfconv.h"
 
 /* FILE_MAXDIR + FILE_MAXFILE */
 
-int BLI_getInstallationDir(char *str)
+int BLI_windows_get_executable_dir(char *str)
 {
   char dir[FILE_MAXDIR];
   int a;
@@ -60,19 +58,19 @@ int BLI_getInstallationDir(char *str)
   return 1;
 }
 
-static void RegisterBlendExtension_Fail(HKEY root)
+static void register_blend_extension_failed(HKEY root, const bool background)
 {
   printf("failed\n");
   if (root) {
     RegCloseKey(root);
   }
-  if (!G.background) {
+  if (!background) {
     MessageBox(0, "Could not register file extension.", "Blender error", MB_OK | MB_ICONERROR);
   }
   TerminateProcess(GetCurrentProcess(), 1);
 }
 
-void RegisterBlendExtension(void)
+void BLI_windows_register_blend_extension(const bool background)
 {
   LONG lresult;
   HKEY hkey = 0;
@@ -108,7 +106,7 @@ void RegisterBlendExtension(void)
     usr_mode = true;
     lresult = RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, "Software\\Classes", 0, KEY_ALL_ACCESS, &root);
     if (lresult != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-      RegisterBlendExtension_Fail(0);
+      register_blend_extension_failed(0, background);
     }
   }
 
@@ -120,7 +118,7 @@ void RegisterBlendExtension(void)
     RegCloseKey(hkey);
   }
   if (lresult != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-    RegisterBlendExtension_Fail(root);
+    register_blend_extension_failed(root, background);
   }
 
   lresult = RegCreateKeyEx(root,
@@ -138,7 +136,7 @@ void RegisterBlendExtension(void)
     RegCloseKey(hkey);
   }
   if (lresult != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-    RegisterBlendExtension_Fail(root);
+    register_blend_extension_failed(root, background);
   }
 
   lresult = RegCreateKeyEx(root,
@@ -156,7 +154,7 @@ void RegisterBlendExtension(void)
     RegCloseKey(hkey);
   }
   if (lresult != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-    RegisterBlendExtension_Fail(root);
+    register_blend_extension_failed(root, background);
   }
 
   lresult = RegCreateKeyEx(
@@ -167,10 +165,10 @@ void RegisterBlendExtension(void)
     RegCloseKey(hkey);
   }
   if (lresult != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-    RegisterBlendExtension_Fail(root);
+    register_blend_extension_failed(root, background);
   }
 
-  BLI_getInstallationDir(InstallDir);
+  BLI_windows_get_executable_dir(InstallDir);
   GetSystemDirectory(SysDir, FILE_MAXDIR);
   ThumbHandlerDLL = "BlendThumb.dll";
   snprintf(
@@ -179,7 +177,7 @@ void RegisterBlendExtension(void)
 
   RegCloseKey(root);
   printf("success (%s)\n", usr_mode ? "user" : "system");
-  if (!G.background) {
+  if (!background) {
     sprintf(MBox,
             "File extension registered for %s.",
             usr_mode ? "the current user. To register for all users, run as an administrator" :
@@ -189,7 +187,7 @@ void RegisterBlendExtension(void)
   TerminateProcess(GetCurrentProcess(), 0);
 }
 
-void get_default_root(char *root)
+void BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir(char *root)
 {
   char str[MAX_PATH + 1];
 
@@ -236,7 +234,7 @@ void get_default_root(char *root)
         }
       }
       if (0 == rc) {
-        printf("ERROR in 'get_default_root': can't find a valid drive!\n");
+        printf("ERROR in 'BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir': can't find a valid drive!\n");
         root[0] = 'C';
         root[1] = ':';
         root[2] = '\\';
@@ -246,30 +244,6 @@ void get_default_root(char *root)
   }
 }
 
-/* UNUSED */
-#  if 0
-int check_file_chars(char *filename)
-{
-  char *p = filename;
-  while (*p) {
-    switch (*p) {
-      case ':':
-      case '?':
-      case '*':
-      case '|':
-      case '\\':
-      case '/':
-      case '\"':
-        return 0;
-        break;
-    }
-
-    p++;
-  }
-  return 1;
-}
-#  endif
-
 #else
 
 /* intentionally empty for UNIX */
diff --git a/source/blender/editors/space_file/file_ops.c b/source/blender/editors/space_file/file_ops.c
index 83c0e60168b..8c4b2a1b8a6 100644
--- a/source/blender/editors/space_file/file_ops.c
+++ b/source/blender/editors/space_file/file_ops.c
@@ -2297,7 +2297,7 @@ static void file_expand_directory(bContext *C)
     }
 #else
     {
-      get_default_root(sfile->params->dir);
+      BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir(sfile->params->dir);
     }
     /* change "C:" --> "C:\", [#28102] */
     else if ((isalpha(sfile->params->dir[0]) && (sfile->params->dir[1] == ':')) &&
diff --git a/source/blender/editors/space_file/filelist.c b/source/blender/editors/space_file/filelist.c
index 67ea22a7ef5..0ade50814e0 100644
--- a/source/blender/editors/space_file/filelist.c
+++ b/source/blender/editors/space_file/filelist.c
@@ -1127,7 +1127,7 @@ static void parent_dir_until_exists_or_default_root(char *dir)
 {
   if (!BLI_path_parent_dir_until_exists(dir)) {
 #ifdef WIN32
-    get_default_root(dir);
+    BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir(dir);
 #else
     strcpy(dir, "/");
 #endif
diff --git a/source/blender/windowmanager/intern/wm_files.c b/source/blender/windowmanager/intern/wm_files.c
index 62d9c099cd5..f53a3d6bf35 100644
--- a/source/blender/windowmanager/intern/wm_files.c
+++ b/source/blender/windowmanager/intern/wm_files.c
@@ -1576,7 +1576,7 @@ void wm_autosave_location(char *filepath)
    * Blender installed on D:\ drive, D:\ drive has D:\tmp\
    * Now, BLI_exists() will find '/tmp/' exists, but
    * BLI_make_file_string will create string that has it most likely on C:\
-   * through get_default_root().
+   * through BLI_windows_get_default_root_dir().
    * If there is no C:\tmp autosave fails. */
   if (!BLI_exists(BKE_tempdir_base())) {
     savedir = BKE_appdir_folder_id_create(BLENDER_USER_AUTOSAVE, NULL);
diff --git a/source/creator/creator_args.c b/source/creator/creator_args.c
index 164e670c444..e199030ef71 100644
--- a/source/creator/creator_args.c
+++ b/source/creator/creator_args.c
@@ -1300,7 +1300,7 @@ static int arg_handle_register_extension(int UNUSED(argc), const char **UNUSED(a
   if (data) {
     G.background = 1;
   }
-  RegisterBlendExtension();
+  BLI_windows_register_blend_extension(G.background);
 #  else
   (void)data; /* unused */
 #  endif