diff --git a/Core/ELF/PBPReader.cpp b/Core/ELF/PBPReader.cpp
index de9c4452bd..5749cf85a6 100644
--- a/Core/ELF/PBPReader.cpp
+++ b/Core/ELF/PBPReader.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 // Official git repository and contact information can be found at
 // https://github.com/hrydgard/ppsspp and http://www.ppsspp.org/.
 
-#include <fstream>
 #include <string>
 #include <cstring>
 
diff --git a/Core/HLE/sceKernelModule.cpp b/Core/HLE/sceKernelModule.cpp
index 4607c75efd..5d3471cb40 100644
--- a/Core/HLE/sceKernelModule.cpp
+++ b/Core/HLE/sceKernelModule.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 // Official git repository and contact information can be found at
 // https://github.com/hrydgard/ppsspp and http://www.ppsspp.org/.
 
-#include <fstream>
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <set>
 
diff --git a/Core/System.cpp b/Core/System.cpp
index 60a2e03b6b..93539bad07 100644
--- a/Core/System.cpp
+++ b/Core/System.cpp
@@ -644,24 +644,21 @@ void InitSysDirectories() {
 
 	// If installed.txt exists(and we can determine the Documents directory)
 	if (installed && rootMyDocsPath.size() > 0) {
-#if defined(_WIN32) && defined(__MINGW32__)
-		std::ifstream inputFile(installedFile);
-#else
-		std::ifstream inputFile(ConvertUTF8ToWString(installedFile));
-#endif
-
-		if (!inputFile.fail() && inputFile.is_open()) {
-			std::string tempString;
-
-			std::getline(inputFile, tempString);
-
+		FILE *fp = File::OpenCFile(installedFile, "rt");
+		if (fp) {
+			char temp[2048];
+			char *tempStr = fgets(temp, sizeof(temp), fp);
 			// Skip UTF-8 encoding bytes if there are any. There are 3 of them.
-			if (tempString.substr(0, 3) == "\xEF\xBB\xBF")
-				tempString = tempString.substr(3);
+			if (tempStr && strncmp(tempStr, "\xEF\xBB\xBF", 3) == 0) {
+				tempStr += 3;
+			}
+			std::string tempString = tempStr ? tempStr : "";
+			if (!tempString.empty() && tempString.back() == '\n')
+				tempString.resize(tempString.size() - 1);
 
 			g_Config.memStickDirectory = tempString;
+			fclose(fp);
 		}
-		inputFile.close();
 
 		// Check if the file is empty first, before appending the slash.
 		if (g_Config.memStickDirectory.empty())
diff --git a/UI/GameSettingsScreen.cpp b/UI/GameSettingsScreen.cpp
index 3fceddf23d..8c7fc3da12 100644
--- a/UI/GameSettingsScreen.cpp
+++ b/UI/GameSettingsScreen.cpp
@@ -958,25 +958,21 @@ void GameSettingsScreen::CreateViews() {
 			SavePathInMyDocumentChoice->SetEnabled(false);
 	} else {
 		if (installed_ && myDocsExists) {
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-			std::ifstream inputFile(ConvertUTF8ToWString(installedFile));
-#else
-			std::ifstream inputFile(installedFile);
-#endif
-			if (!inputFile.fail() && inputFile.is_open()) {
-				std::string tempString;
-				std::getline(inputFile, tempString);
-
+			FILE *testInstalled = File::OpenCFile(installedFile, "rt");
+			if (testInstalled) {
+				char temp[2048];
+				char *tempStr = fgets(temp, sizeof(temp), testInstalled);
 				// Skip UTF-8 encoding bytes if there are any. There are 3 of them.
-				if (tempString.substr(0, 3) == "\xEF\xBB\xBF")
-					tempString = tempString.substr(3);
+				if (tempStr && strncmp(tempStr, "\xEF\xBB\xBF", 3) == 0) {
+					tempStr += 3;
+				}
 				SavePathInOtherChoice->SetEnabled(!PSP_IsInited());
-				if (!(tempString == "")) {
+				if (tempStr && strlen(tempStr) != 0 && strcmp(tempStr, "\n") != 0) {
 					installed_ = false;
 					otherinstalled_ = true;
 				}
+				fclose(testInstalled);
 			}
-			inputFile.close();
 		} else if (!myDocsExists) {
 			SavePathInMyDocumentChoice->SetEnabled(false);
 		}
diff --git a/Windows/stdafx.h b/Windows/stdafx.h
index e8c667e29a..97093c82b5 100644
--- a/Windows/stdafx.h
+++ b/Windows/stdafx.h
@@ -67,6 +67,5 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <map>
 #include <string>
-#include <fstream>
 
 #include "Common/Log.h"