diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 88e859a0..3e5b192b 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 ============================
 
  * Added support for WinRT.
+ * Dropped support for Windows 9x and NT 4.0 or older.
+ * Several smaller bug fixes and performance improvements.
 
 TagLib 1.11.1 (Oct 24, 2016)
 ============================
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tdebug.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tdebug.cpp
index a48e1919..9f09ba19 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tdebug.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tdebug.cpp
@@ -49,11 +49,10 @@ namespace TagLib
 
   void debugData(const ByteVector &v)
   {
-    for(size_t i = 0; i < v.size(); ++i)
-    {
-      std::string bits = std::bitset<8>(v[i]).to_string();
-      String msg = Utils::formatString(
-        "*** [%d] - char '%c' - int %d, 0x%02x, 0b%s\n",
+    for(unsigned int i = 0; i < v.size(); ++i) {
+      const std::string bits = std::bitset<8>(v[i]).to_string();
+      const String msg = Utils::formatString(
+        "*** [%u] - char '%c' - int %d, 0x%02x, 0b%s\n",
         i, v[i], v[i], v[i], bits.c_str());
 
       debugListener->printMessage(msg);
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tfilestream.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tfilestream.cpp
index a1809ca9..2cb3bd59 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tfilestream.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tfilestream.cpp
@@ -57,14 +57,9 @@ namespace
     const DWORD access = readOnly ? GENERIC_READ : (GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE);
 
 #if defined(_WIN32_WINNT) && (_WIN32_WINNT >= 0x0602)
-    return CreateFile2(path.toString().toCWString(), access, FILE_SHARE_READ, OPEN_EXISTING, NULL);
+    return CreateFile2(path.wstr(), access, FILE_SHARE_READ, OPEN_EXISTING, NULL);
 #else
-    if(!path.wstr().empty())
-      return CreateFileW(path.wstr().c_str(), access, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL, OPEN_EXISTING, 0, NULL);
-    else if(!path.str().empty())
-      return CreateFileA(path.str().c_str(), access, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL, OPEN_EXISTING, 0, NULL);
-    else
-      return InvalidFileHandle;
+    return CreateFileW(path.wstr(), access, FILE_SHARE_READ, NULL, OPEN_EXISTING, 0, NULL);
 #endif
   }
 
@@ -159,7 +154,7 @@ FileStream::FileStream(FileName fileName, bool openReadOnly) :
   if(d->file == InvalidFileHandle)
   {
 # ifdef _WIN32
-    debug("Could not open file " + fileName.toString());
+    debug("Could not open file " + String(fileName.wstr()));
 # else
     debug("Could not open file " + String(static_cast<const char *>(d->name)));
 # endif
@@ -269,7 +264,7 @@ void FileStream::insert(const ByteVector &data, long long start, size_t replace)
     // to overwrite.  Appropriately increment the readPosition.
 
     seek(readPosition);
-    const size_t bytesRead = readFile(d->file, aboutToOverwrite);
+    const unsigned int bytesRead = static_cast<unsigned int>(readFile(d->file, aboutToOverwrite));
     aboutToOverwrite.resize(bytesRead);
     readPosition += bufferLength;
 
@@ -312,10 +307,10 @@ void FileStream::removeBlock(long long start, size_t length)
 
   ByteVector buffer(bufferLength, 0);
 
-  for(size_t bytesRead = -1; bytesRead != 0;)
+  for(unsigned int bytesRead = -1; bytesRead != 0;)
   {
     seek(readPosition);
-    bytesRead = readFile(d->file, buffer);
+    bytesRead = static_cast<unsigned int>(readFile(d->file, buffer));
     readPosition += bytesRead;
 
     // Check to see if we just read the last block.  We need to call clear()
@@ -373,12 +368,9 @@ void FileStream::seek(long long offset, Position p)
   LARGE_INTEGER liOffset;
   liOffset.QuadPart = offset;
 
-  SetLastError(NO_ERROR);
-  SetFilePointer(d->file, liOffset.LowPart, &liOffset.HighPart, whence);
-
-  const int lastError = GetLastError();
-  if(lastError != NO_ERROR && lastError != ERROR_NEGATIVE_SEEK)
+  if(!SetFilePointerEx(d->file, liOffset, NULL, whence)) {
     debug("FileStream::seek() -- Failed to set the file pointer.");
+  }
 
 #else
 
@@ -420,13 +412,10 @@ long long FileStream::tell() const
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
 
+  const LARGE_INTEGER zero = {};
   LARGE_INTEGER position;
-  position.QuadPart = 0;
 
-  SetLastError(NO_ERROR);
-  position.LowPart = SetFilePointer(
-    d->file, position.LowPart, &position.HighPart, FILE_CURRENT);
-  if(GetLastError() == NO_ERROR) {
+  if(SetFilePointerEx(d->file, zero, &position, FILE_CURRENT)) {
     return position.QuadPart;
   }
   else {
@@ -450,16 +439,10 @@ long long FileStream::length()
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 
-  SetLastError(NO_ERROR);
-#if defined(_WIN32_WINNT) && (_WIN32_WINNT >= 0x0602)
   LARGE_INTEGER fileSize;
-  GetFileSizeEx(d->file, &fileSize);
-#else
-  ULARGE_INTEGER fileSize;
-  fileSize.LowPart = GetFileSize(d->file, &fileSize.HighPart);
-#endif
-  if(GetLastError() == NO_ERROR) {
-    return static_cast<long long>(fileSize.QuadPart);
+
+  if(GetFileSizeEx(d->file, &fileSize)) {
+    return fileSize.QuadPart;
   }
   else {
     debug("FileStream::length() -- Failed to get the file size.");
@@ -497,9 +480,7 @@ void FileStream::truncate(long long length)
 
   seek(length);
 
-  SetLastError(NO_ERROR);
-  SetEndOfFile(d->file);
-  if(GetLastError() != NO_ERROR) {
+  if(!SetEndOfFile(d->file)) {
     debug("FileStream::truncate() -- Failed to truncate the file.");
   }
 
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tiostream.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tiostream.cpp
index 6c4c1b51..530a9693 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tiostream.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tiostream.cpp
@@ -23,93 +23,56 @@
  *   http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/                                           *
  ***************************************************************************/
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+# include <windows.h>
+# include <tstring.h>
+# include <tsmartptr.h>
+#endif
+
 #include "tiostream.h"
 
 using namespace TagLib;
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 
-# include "tstring.h"
-# include "tdebug.h"
-# include "tsmartptr.h"
-# include <windows.h>
-
 namespace
 {
-  // Check if the running system has CreateFileW() function.
-  // Windows9x systems don't have CreateFileW() or can't accept Unicode file names.
-
-  bool supportsUnicode()
+  std::wstring ansiToUnicode(const char *str)
   {
-#ifdef UNICODE
-    return true;
-#else
-    const FARPROC p = GetProcAddress(GetModuleHandleA("kernel32"), "CreateFileW");
-    return (p != NULL);
-#endif
-  }
-
-  // Indicates whether the system supports Unicode file names.
-
-  const bool SystemSupportsUnicode = supportsUnicode();
-
-  // Converts a UTF-16 string into a local encoding.
-  // This function should only be used in Windows9x systems which don't support
-  // Unicode file names.
-
-  std::string unicodeToAnsi(const wchar_t *wstr)
-  {
-    if(SystemSupportsUnicode) {
-      debug("unicodeToAnsi() - Should not be used on WinNT systems.");
-    }
-
-    const int len = ::WideCharToMultiByte(CP_ACP, 0, wstr, -1, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL);
+    const int len = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, str, -1, NULL, 0);
     if(len == 0)
-      return std::string();
+      return std::wstring();
 
-    std::string str(len, '\0');
-    ::WideCharToMultiByte(CP_ACP, 0, wstr, -1, &str[0], len, NULL, NULL);
+    std::wstring wstr(len - 1, L'\0');
+    MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, str, -1, &wstr[0], len);
 
-    return str;
+    return wstr;
   }
-
-  struct FileNameData
-  {
-    std::wstring wname;
-    std::string  name;
-  };
 }
 
 class FileName::FileNamePrivate
 {
 public:
   FileNamePrivate() :
-    data(new FileNameData()) {}
+    data(new std::wstring()) {}
 
-  SHARED_PTR<FileNameData> data;
+  FileNamePrivate(const wchar_t *name) :
+    data(new std::wstring(name)) {}
+
+  FileNamePrivate(const char *name) :
+    data(new std::wstring(ansiToUnicode(name))) {}
+
+  SHARED_PTR<std::wstring> data;
 };
 
-FileName::FileName() :
-  d(new FileNamePrivate())
-{
-}
-
 FileName::FileName(const wchar_t *name) :
-  d(new FileNamePrivate())
+  d(new FileNamePrivate(name))
 {
-  // If WinNT, stores a Unicode string into wname directly.
-  // If Win9x, converts and stores it into name to avoid calling Unicode version functions.
-
-  if(SystemSupportsUnicode)
-    d->data->wname = name;
-  else
-    d->data->name = unicodeToAnsi(name);
 }
 
 FileName::FileName(const char *name) :
-  d(new FileNamePrivate())
+  d(new FileNamePrivate(name))
 {
-  d->data->name = name;
 }
 
 FileName::FileName(const FileName &name) :
@@ -129,34 +92,9 @@ FileName &FileName::operator=(const FileName &name)
   return *this;
 }
 
-const std::wstring &FileName::wstr() const
+const wchar_t *FileName::wstr() const
 {
-  return d->data->wname;
-}
-
-const std::string &FileName::str() const
-{
-  return d->data->name;
-}
-
-String FileName::toString() const
-{
-  if(!d->data->wname.empty()) {
-    return String(d->data->wname);
-  }
-  else if(!d->data->name.empty()) {
-    const int len = ::MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, d->data->name.c_str(), -1, NULL, 0);
-    if(len == 0)
-      return String();
-
-    std::vector<wchar_t> buf(len);
-    ::MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, d->data->name.c_str(), -1, &buf[0], len);
-
-    return String(&buf[0]);
-  }
-  else {
-    return String();
-  }
+  return d->data->c_str();
 }
 
 #endif  // _WIN32
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tiostream.h b/taglib/toolkit/tiostream.h
index 0329c49a..aadcd3fb 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tiostream.h
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tiostream.h
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ namespace TagLib {
   class TAGLIB_EXPORT FileName
   {
   public:
-    FileName();
     FileName(const wchar_t *name);
     FileName(const char *name);
     FileName(const FileName &name);
@@ -46,10 +45,7 @@ namespace TagLib {
 
     FileName &operator=(const FileName &name);
 
-    const std::wstring &wstr() const;
-    const std::string  &str() const;
-
-    String toString() const;
+    const wchar_t *wstr() const;
 
   private:
     class FileNamePrivate;
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
index 2e77f349..71be1d80 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
@@ -511,8 +511,7 @@ ByteVector String::data(Type t) const
     {
       ByteVector v(size() * 4 + 1, 0);
 
-      const size_t len = UTF16toUTF8(
-        d->data->c_str(), d->data->size(), v.data(), v.size());
+      const size_t len = UTF16toUTF8(d->data->c_str(), d->data->size(), v.data(), v.size());
       v.resize(len);
 
       return v;