diff --git a/alethzero/NatspecHandler.cpp b/alethzero/NatspecHandler.cpp
index 6ed9f2b10..dc4a219ab 100644
--- a/alethzero/NatspecHandler.cpp
+++ b/alethzero/NatspecHandler.cpp
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ NatspecHandler::NatspecHandler()
 {
 	string path = Defaults::dbPath();
 	fs::create_directories(path);
-	fs::permissions(path, fs::owner_all);
+	DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(path, fs::owner_all));
 	ldb::Options o;
 	o.create_if_missing = true;
 	ldb::DB::Open(o, path + "/natspec", &m_db);
diff --git a/libdevcore/CommonIO.cpp b/libdevcore/CommonIO.cpp
index 5c501fde7..3c3b08845 100644
--- a/libdevcore/CommonIO.cpp
+++ b/libdevcore/CommonIO.cpp
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ void dev::writeFile(std::string const& _file, bytesConstRef _data, bool _writeDe
 		s.write(reinterpret_cast<char const*>(_data.data()), _data.size());
 		if (!s)
 			BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(FileError() << errinfo_comment("Could not write to file: " + _file));
-		fs::permissions(_file, fs::owner_read|fs::owner_write);
+		DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(_file, fs::owner_read|fs::owner_write));
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/libdevcore/TransientDirectory.cpp b/libdevcore/TransientDirectory.cpp
index 31a826c24..cd91bd0e4 100644
--- a/libdevcore/TransientDirectory.cpp
+++ b/libdevcore/TransientDirectory.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ TransientDirectory::TransientDirectory(std::string const& _path):
 		BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(FileError());
 
 	fs::create_directories(m_path);
-	fs::permissions(m_path, fs::owner_all);
+	DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(m_path, fs::owner_all));
 }
 
 TransientDirectory::~TransientDirectory()
diff --git a/libdevcrypto/SecretStore.cpp b/libdevcrypto/SecretStore.cpp
index 266f3735a..39f421f3e 100644
--- a/libdevcrypto/SecretStore.cpp
+++ b/libdevcrypto/SecretStore.cpp
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ void SecretStore::save(string const& _keysPath)
 {
 	fs::path p(_keysPath);
 	fs::create_directories(p);
-	fs::permissions(p, fs::owner_all);
+	DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(p, fs::owner_all));
 	for (auto& k: m_keys)
 	{
 		string uuid = toUUID(k.first);
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ void SecretStore::load(string const& _keysPath)
 {
 	fs::path p(_keysPath);
 	fs::create_directories(p);
-	fs::permissions(p, fs::owner_all);
+	DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(p, fs::owner_all));
 	for (fs::directory_iterator it(p); it != fs::directory_iterator(); ++it)
 		if (fs::is_regular_file(it->path()))
 			readKey(it->path().string(), true);
diff --git a/libdevcrypto/SecretStore.h b/libdevcrypto/SecretStore.h
index fbc4c0bec..0fcb18734 100644
--- a/libdevcrypto/SecretStore.h
+++ b/libdevcrypto/SecretStore.h
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ public:
 	/// Returns the uuids of all stored keys.
 	std::vector<h128> keys() const { return keysOf(m_keys); }
 
+	/// @returns true iff we have the given key stored.
+	bool contains(h128 const& _k) const { return m_keys.count(_k); }
+
 	/// Clears all cached decrypted keys. The passwords have to be supplied in order to retrieve
 	/// secrets again after calling this function.
 	void clearCache() const;
diff --git a/libethcore/KeyManager.cpp b/libethcore/KeyManager.cpp
index 08892e453..8f3cd5e85 100644
--- a/libethcore/KeyManager.cpp
+++ b/libethcore/KeyManager.cpp
@@ -95,8 +95,11 @@ bool KeyManager::load(string const& _pass)
 			{
 				h128 uuid(i[1]);
 				Address addr(i[0]);
-				m_addrLookup[addr] = uuid;
-				m_keyInfo[uuid] = KeyInfo(h256(i[2]), string(i[3]));
+				if (m_store.contains(uuid))
+				{
+					m_addrLookup[addr] = uuid;
+					m_keyInfo[uuid] = KeyInfo(h256(i[2]), string(i[3]));
+				}
 //				cdebug << toString(addr) << toString(uuid) << toString((h256)i[2]) << (string)i[3];
 			}
 
diff --git a/libethereum/BlockChain.cpp b/libethereum/BlockChain.cpp
index 230eb39eb..b38db9c8b 100644
--- a/libethereum/BlockChain.cpp
+++ b/libethereum/BlockChain.cpp
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ unsigned BlockChain::openDatabase(std::string const& _path, WithExisting _we)
 	string extrasPath = chainPath + "/" + toString(c_databaseVersion);
 
 	fs::create_directories(extrasPath);
-	fs::permissions(extrasPath, fs::owner_all);
+	DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(extrasPath, fs::owner_all));
 
 	bytes status = contents(extrasPath + "/minor");
 	unsigned lastMinor = c_minorProtocolVersion;
diff --git a/libethereum/State.cpp b/libethereum/State.cpp
index 8329ff485..b7367a64f 100644
--- a/libethereum/State.cpp
+++ b/libethereum/State.cpp
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ OverlayDB State::openDB(std::string const& _basePath, h256 const& _genesisHash,
 
 	path += "/" + toHex(_genesisHash.ref().cropped(0, 4)) + "/" + toString(c_databaseVersion);
 	boost::filesystem::create_directories(path);
-	fs::permissions(path, fs::owner_all);
+	DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(path, fs::owner_all));
 
 	ldb::Options o;
 	o.max_open_files = 256;
diff --git a/libethereum/Utility.cpp b/libethereum/Utility.cpp
index f34f66463..ac407999c 100644
--- a/libethereum/Utility.cpp
+++ b/libethereum/Utility.cpp
@@ -114,13 +114,13 @@ void dev::eth::upgradeDatabase(std::string const& _basePath, h256 const& _genesi
 			if (!fs::exists(chainPath + "/blocks"))
 			{
 				fs::create_directories(chainPath);
-				fs::permissions(chainPath, fs::owner_all);
+				DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(chainPath, fs::owner_all));
 				fs::rename(path + "/blocks", chainPath + "/blocks");
 
 				if (!fs::exists(extrasPath + "/extras"))
 				{
 					fs::create_directories(extrasPath);
-					fs::permissions(extrasPath, fs::owner_all);
+					DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(extrasPath, fs::owner_all));
 					fs::rename(path + "/details", extrasPath + "/extras");
 					fs::rename(path + "/state", extrasPath + "/state");
 					writeFile(extrasPath + "/minor", rlp(minorProtocolVersion));
diff --git a/libweb3jsonrpc/WebThreeStubServer.cpp b/libweb3jsonrpc/WebThreeStubServer.cpp
index 627f18d38..b5d8dc35f 100644
--- a/libweb3jsonrpc/WebThreeStubServer.cpp
+++ b/libweb3jsonrpc/WebThreeStubServer.cpp
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ WebThreeStubServer::WebThreeStubServer(jsonrpc::AbstractServerConnector& _conn,
 {
 	auto path = getDataDir() + "/.web3";
 	fs::create_directories(path);
-	fs::permissions(path, fs::owner_all);
+	DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(path, fs::owner_all));
 	ldb::Options o;
 	o.create_if_missing = true;
 	ldb::DB::Open(o, path, &m_db);
diff --git a/libwhisper/WhisperDB.cpp b/libwhisper/WhisperDB.cpp
index 39d0629a7..ba3691a26 100644
--- a/libwhisper/WhisperDB.cpp
+++ b/libwhisper/WhisperDB.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ WhisperDB::WhisperDB(string const& _type)
 	m_readOptions.verify_checksums = true;
 	string path = dev::getDataDir("shh");
 	fs::create_directories(path);
-	fs::permissions(path, fs::owner_all);
+	DEV_IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS(fs::permissions(path, fs::owner_all));
 	path += "/" + _type;
 	leveldb::Options op;
 	op.create_if_missing = true;