diff --git a/lib/system_win32.c b/lib/system_win32.c
index 52a5fd951..7e287064e 100644
--- a/lib/system_win32.c
+++ b/lib/system_win32.c
@@ -109,11 +109,11 @@ CURLcode Curl_win32_init(long flags)
   if(Curl_verify_windows_version(6, 0, PLATFORM_WINNT,
                                  VERSION_GREATER_THAN_EQUAL)) {
     Curl_isVistaOrGreater = TRUE;
-    QueryPerformanceFrequency(&Curl_freq);
   }
   else
     Curl_isVistaOrGreater = FALSE;
 
+  QueryPerformanceFrequency(&Curl_freq);
   return CURLE_OK;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/timeval.c b/lib/timeval.c
index 9b05cf051..04d0ff3ee 100644
--- a/lib/timeval.c
+++ b/lib/timeval.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 extern LARGE_INTEGER Curl_freq;
 extern bool Curl_isVistaOrGreater;
 
+/* In case of bug fix this function has a counterpart in tool_util.c */
 struct curltime Curl_now(void)
 {
   struct curltime now;
diff --git a/src/tool_doswin.c b/src/tool_doswin.c
index a64a81633..0743c7183 100644
--- a/src/tool_doswin.c
+++ b/src/tool_doswin.c
@@ -697,6 +697,32 @@ cleanup:
   return slist;
 }
 
+LARGE_INTEGER Curl_freq;
+bool Curl_isVistaOrGreater;
+
+CURLcode win32_init(void)
+{
+  OSVERSIONINFOEXA osvi;
+  unsigned __int64 mask = 0;
+  unsigned char op = VER_GREATER_EQUAL;
+
+  memset(&osvi, 0, sizeof(osvi));
+  osvi.dwOSVersionInfoSize = sizeof(osvi);
+  osvi.dwMajorVersion = 6;
+  VER_SET_CONDITION(mask, VER_MAJORVERSION, op);
+  VER_SET_CONDITION(mask, VER_MINORVERSION, op);
+
+  if(VerifyVersionInfoA(&osvi, (VER_MAJORVERSION | VER_MINORVERSION), mask))
+    Curl_isVistaOrGreater = true;
+  else if(GetLastError() == ERROR_OLD_WIN_VERSION)
+    Curl_isVistaOrGreater = false;
+  else
+    return CURLE_FAILED_INIT;
+
+  QueryPerformanceFrequency(&Curl_freq);
+  return CURLE_OK;
+}
+
 #endif /* WIN32 */
 
 #endif /* MSDOS || WIN32 */
diff --git a/src/tool_doswin.h b/src/tool_doswin.h
index 457637665..aba31b0bd 100644
--- a/src/tool_doswin.h
+++ b/src/tool_doswin.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ CURLcode FindWin32CACert(struct OperationConfig *config,
                          curl_sslbackend backend,
                          const char *bundle_file);
 struct curl_slist *GetLoadedModulePaths(void);
+CURLcode win32_init(void);
 
 #endif /* WIN32 */
 
diff --git a/src/tool_main.c b/src/tool_main.c
index 06923c332..047796b6c 100644
--- a/src/tool_main.c
+++ b/src/tool_main.c
@@ -279,6 +279,24 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
   struct GlobalConfig global;
   memset(&global, 0, sizeof(global));
 
+#ifdef WIN32
+  /* Undocumented diagnostic option to list the full paths of all loaded
+     modules. This is purposely pre-init. */
+  if(argc == 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "--dump-module-paths")) {
+    struct curl_slist *item, *head = GetLoadedModulePaths();
+    for(item = head; item; item = item->next)
+      printf("%s\n", item->data);
+    curl_slist_free_all(head);
+    return head ? 0 : 1;
+  }
+  /* win32_init must be called before other init routines. */
+  result = win32_init();
+  if(result) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "curl: (%d) Windows-specific init failed.\n", result);
+    return result;
+  }
+#endif
+
   /* Perform any platform-specific terminal configuration */
   configure_terminal();
 
@@ -294,21 +312,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
   /* Initialize the curl library - do not call any libcurl functions before
      this point */
   result = main_init(&global);
-
-#ifdef WIN32
-  /* Undocumented diagnostic option to list the full paths of all loaded
-     modules, regardless of whether or not initialization succeeded. */
-  if(argc == 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "--dump-module-paths")) {
-    struct curl_slist *item, *head = GetLoadedModulePaths();
-    for(item = head; item; item = item->next) {
-      printf("%s\n", item->data);
-    }
-    curl_slist_free_all(head);
-    if(!result)
-      main_free(&global);
-  }
-  else
-#endif /* WIN32 */
   if(!result) {
     /* Start our curl operation */
     result = operate(&global, argc, argv);
diff --git a/src/tool_util.c b/src/tool_util.c
index 04d73e4e3..ec99bf3f6 100644
--- a/src/tool_util.c
+++ b/src/tool_util.c
@@ -27,27 +27,35 @@
 
 #if defined(WIN32) && !defined(MSDOS)
 
+/* set in win32_init() */
+extern LARGE_INTEGER Curl_freq;
+extern bool Curl_isVistaOrGreater;
+
+/* In case of bug fix this function has a counterpart in timeval.c */
 struct timeval tvnow(void)
 {
-  /*
-  ** GetTickCount() is available on _all_ Windows versions from W95 up
-  ** to nowadays. Returns milliseconds elapsed since last system boot,
-  ** increases monotonically and wraps once 49.7 days have elapsed.
-  **
-  ** GetTickCount64() is available on Windows version from Windows Vista
-  ** and Windows Server 2008 up to nowadays. The resolution of the
-  ** function is limited to the resolution of the system timer, which
-  ** is typically in the range of 10 milliseconds to 16 milliseconds.
-  */
   struct timeval now;
-#if defined(_WIN32_WINNT) && (_WIN32_WINNT >= 0x0600) && \
-    (!defined(__MINGW32__) || defined(__MINGW64_VERSION_MAJOR))
-  ULONGLONG milliseconds = GetTickCount64();
-#else
-  DWORD milliseconds = GetTickCount();
+  if(Curl_isVistaOrGreater) { /* QPC timer might have issues pre-Vista */
+    LARGE_INTEGER count;
+    QueryPerformanceCounter(&count);
+    now.tv_sec = (long)(count.QuadPart / Curl_freq.QuadPart);
+    now.tv_usec = (long)((count.QuadPart % Curl_freq.QuadPart) * 1000000 /
+                         Curl_freq.QuadPart);
+  }
+  else {
+    /* Disable /analyze warning that GetTickCount64 is preferred  */
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+#pragma warning(push)
+#pragma warning(disable:28159)
 #endif
-  now.tv_sec = (long)(milliseconds / 1000);
-  now.tv_usec = (long)((milliseconds % 1000) * 1000);
+    DWORD milliseconds = GetTickCount();
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+#pragma warning(pop)
+#endif
+
+    now.tv_sec = (long)(milliseconds / 1000);
+    now.tv_usec = (long)((milliseconds % 1000) * 1000);
+  }
   return now;
 }