diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.Common/PathManager.cs b/BizHawk.Client.Common/PathManager.cs
index bbb0f17c28..85f0805388 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.Common/PathManager.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.Common/PathManager.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ using System.IO;
 using System.Reflection;
 
 using BizHawk.Common;
+using BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Common;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Common.IEmulatorExtensions;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Cores.Nintendo.SNES;
@@ -176,8 +177,8 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 			int x = NumParentDirectories(path);
 			if (x > 0)
 			{
-				int y = StringHelpers.HowMany(path, "..\\");
-				int z = StringHelpers.HowMany(workingpath, "\\");
+				int y = path.HowMany("..\\");
+				int z = workingpath.HowMany("\\");
 				if (y >= z)
 				{
 					//Return drive letter only, working path must be absolute?
@@ -192,10 +193,10 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 		public static int NumParentDirectories(string path)
 		{
 			// determine the number of parent directories in path and return result
-			int x = StringHelpers.HowMany(path, '\\');
+			int x = path.HowMany('\\');
 			if (x > 0)
 			{
-				return StringHelpers.HowMany(path, "..\\");
+				return path.HowMany("..\\");
 			}
 
 			return 0;
diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.Common/inputAdapters/InputAdapters.cs b/BizHawk.Client.Common/inputAdapters/InputAdapters.cs
index e624652548..d1efb0cfc6 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.Common/inputAdapters/InputAdapters.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.Common/inputAdapters/InputAdapters.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
+
 using BizHawk.Common;
+using BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Common;
 
 namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.Common/tools/WatchList.cs b/BizHawk.Client.Common/tools/WatchList.cs
index 4da744a8c2..01c54b2759 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.Common/tools/WatchList.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.Common/tools/WatchList.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 
 using BizHawk.Common;
+using BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Common;
 
 namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
@@ -444,7 +445,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 						continue;
 					}
 
-					var numColumns = StringHelpers.HowMany(line, '\t');
+					var numColumns = line.HowMany('\t');
 					int startIndex;
 					if (numColumns == 5)
 					{
diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.DBMan/DirectoryScan.cs b/BizHawk.Client.DBMan/DirectoryScan.cs
index e80cf20eac..bf2169aa87 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.DBMan/DirectoryScan.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.DBMan/DirectoryScan.cs
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
-using BizHawk.Common;
 using Community.CsharpSqlite.SQLiteClient;
 
+using BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions;
+
 namespace BizHawk.Client.DBMan
 {
 	public static class DirectoryScan
diff --git a/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/StringExtensions.cs b/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/StringExtensions.cs
index 9902242a61..b50734643b 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/StringExtensions.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Common/Extensions/StringExtensions.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 
-namespace BizHawk.Common
+namespace BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions
 {
 	public static class StringExtensions
 	{
@@ -13,20 +13,19 @@ namespace BizHawk.Common
 
 		public static string GetPrecedingString(this string str, string value)
 		{
-			int index = str.IndexOf(value);
+			var index = str.IndexOf(value);
 
 			if (index < 0)
 			{
 				return null;
 			}
-			else if (index == 0)
+			
+			if (index == 0)
 			{
-				return String.Empty;
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				return str.Substring(0, index);
+				return string.Empty;
 			}
+
+			return str.Substring(0, index);
 		}
 
 		public static bool IsValidRomExtentsion(this string str, params string[] romExtensions)
@@ -59,5 +58,24 @@ namespace BizHawk.Common
 		{
 			return options.All(opt => opt.ToLower() != str.ToLower());
 		}
+
+		public static int HowMany(this string str, char c)
+		{
+			return !string.IsNullOrEmpty(str) ? str.Count(t => t == c) : 0;
+		}
+
+		public static int HowMany(this string str, string s)
+		{
+			var count = 0;
+			for (var i = 0; i < (str.Length - s.Length); i++)
+			{
+				if (str.Substring(i, s.Length) == s)
+				{
+					count++;
+				}
+			}
+
+			return count;
+		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/BizHawk.Common/HawkFile.cs b/BizHawk.Common/HawkFile.cs
index 8ec408862d..4c45e4ef74 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Common/HawkFile.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Common/HawkFile.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 
+using BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions;
+
 // the HawkFile class is excessively engineered with the IHawkFileArchiveHandler to decouple the archive handling from the basic file handling.
 // This is so we could drop in an unamanged dearchiver library optionally later as a performance optimization without ruining the portability of the code.
 // Also, we want to be able to use HawkFiles in BizHawk.Common withuot bringing in a large 7-zip dependency
diff --git a/BizHawk.Common/InputValidate.cs b/BizHawk.Common/InputValidate.cs
index 4b16cc4463..cec68bdc44 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Common/InputValidate.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Common/InputValidate.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ namespace BizHawk.Common
 {
 	using System.Linq;
 
+	using BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions;
+
 	/// <summary>
 	/// Includes helper functions to validate user input
 	/// </summary>
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Common
 		/// </summary>
 		public static bool IsFixedPoint(string str)
 		{
-			return StringHelpers.HowMany(str, '.') <= 1 
+			return str.HowMany('.') <= 1 
 				&& str.All(IsFixedPoint);
 		}
 
@@ -118,7 +120,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Common
 		/// </summary>
 		public static bool IsFloat(string str)
 		{
-			return StringHelpers.HowMany(str, '.') <= 1
+			return str.HowMany('.') <= 1
 				&& IsFloat(str[0])
 				&& str.Substring(1).All(IsFixedPoint);
 		}
diff --git a/BizHawk.Common/StringHelpers.cs b/BizHawk.Common/StringHelpers.cs
index 584da4fd7b..736535ec09 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Common/StringHelpers.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Common/StringHelpers.cs
@@ -2,29 +2,6 @@
 
 namespace BizHawk.Common
 {
-	// TODO: these classes are worthless or need to be extensions, decide which
-	public static class StringHelpers
-	{
-		public static int HowMany(string str, char c)
-		{
-			return !string.IsNullOrEmpty(str) ? str.Count(t => t == c) : 0;
-		}
-
-		public static int HowMany(string str, string s)
-		{
-			var count = 0;
-			for (int i = 0; i < (str.Length - s.Length); i++)
-			{
-				if (str.Substring(i, s.Length) == s)
-				{
-					count++;
-				}
-			}
-
-			return count;
-		}
-	}
-
 	// TODO: put it in its own file
 	public static class IntHelpers // TODO: a less lame name
 	{
diff --git a/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/CPUs/68000/OpcodeTable.cs b/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/CPUs/68000/OpcodeTable.cs
index e1627a0487..14e11515ad 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/CPUs/68000/OpcodeTable.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/CPUs/68000/OpcodeTable.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 
-using BizHawk.Common;
+using BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions;
 
 namespace BizHawk.Emulation.Cores.Components.M68000
 {
diff --git a/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Consoles/Sega/SMS/SMS.cs b/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Consoles/Sega/SMS/SMS.cs
index 5c9e88ea84..295654c9c2 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Consoles/Sega/SMS/SMS.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Emulation.Cores/Consoles/Sega/SMS/SMS.cs
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
-using System.Globalization;
 using System.IO;
 
 using BizHawk.Common;
+using BizHawk.Common.StringExtensions;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Common;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Common.Components;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Cores.Components.Z80;