diff --git a/code/nel/src/misc/path.cpp b/code/nel/src/misc/path.cpp
index 8b921fb0f..308b78af4 100644
--- a/code/nel/src/misc/path.cpp
+++ b/code/nel/src/misc/path.cpp
@@ -1747,7 +1747,7 @@ bool CFile::isDirectory (const string &filename)
 {
 #ifdef NL_OS_WINDOWS
 	DWORD res = GetFileAttributes(filename.c_str());
-	if (res == ~0U)
+	if (res == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES)
 	{
 		// nlwarning ("PATH: '%s' is not a valid file or directory name", filename.c_str ());
 		return false;
@@ -1769,7 +1769,7 @@ bool CFile::isDirectory (const string &filename)
 bool CFile::isExists (const string &filename)
 {
 #ifdef NL_OS_WINDOWS
-	return (GetFileAttributes(filename.c_str()) != ~0U);
+	return (GetFileAttributes(filename.c_str()) != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES);
 #else // NL_OS_WINDOWS
 	struct stat buf;
 	return stat (filename.c_str (), &buf) == 0;
diff --git a/code/nel/tools/3d/ig_elevation/main.cpp b/code/nel/tools/3d/ig_elevation/main.cpp
index 3d553d101..55f696fd0 100644
--- a/code/nel/tools/3d/ig_elevation/main.cpp
+++ b/code/nel/tools/3d/ig_elevation/main.cpp
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ void dir (const string &sFilter, vector<string> &sAllFiles, bool bFullPath)
 	hFind = FindFirstFile (sFilter.c_str(), &findData);	
 	while (hFind != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
 	{
-		if (!(GetFileAttributes(findData.cFileName)&FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
+		DWORD res = GetFileAttributes(findData.cFileName);
+		if (res != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES && !(res&FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
 		{
 			if (bFullPath)
 				sAllFiles.push_back(string(sCurDir) + "\\" + findData.cFileName);
diff --git a/code/nel/tools/3d/lightmap_optimizer/main.cpp b/code/nel/tools/3d/lightmap_optimizer/main.cpp
index c62501b4e..a2dd5602a 100644
--- a/code/nel/tools/3d/lightmap_optimizer/main.cpp
+++ b/code/nel/tools/3d/lightmap_optimizer/main.cpp
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ void dir (const std::string &sFilter, std::vector<std::string> &sAllFiles, bool
 	hFind = FindFirstFile (sFilter.c_str(), &findData);	
 	while (hFind != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
 	{
-		if (!(GetFileAttributes(findData.cFileName)&FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
+		DWORD res = GetFileAttributes(findData.cFileName);
+		if (res != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES && !(res&FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
 		{
 			if (bFullPath)
 				sAllFiles.push_back(string(sCurDir) + "\\" + findData.cFileName);