diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Common/EnvironmentInfo/AppFolderFactory.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Common/EnvironmentInfo/AppFolderFactory.cs
index 7132d539f..993275aa9 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Common/EnvironmentInfo/AppFolderFactory.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Common/EnvironmentInfo/AppFolderFactory.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ using System.Security.AccessControl;
 using System.Security.Principal;
 using NLog;
 using NzbDrone.Common.Disk;
+using NzbDrone.Common.Exceptions;
 using NzbDrone.Common.Instrumentation;
 
 namespace NzbDrone.Common.EnvironmentInfo
@@ -33,6 +34,11 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Common.EnvironmentInfo
             {
                 SetPermissions();
             }
+
+            if (!_diskProvider.FolderWritable(_appFolderInfo.AppDataFolder))
+            {
+                throw new SonarrStartupException("AppFolder {0} is not writable", _appFolderInfo.AppDataFolder);
+            }
         }
 
         private void SetPermissions()
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Common/Exceptions/SonarrStartupException.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Common/Exceptions/SonarrStartupException.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b61207642
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Common/Exceptions/SonarrStartupException.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace NzbDrone.Common.Exceptions
+{
+    public class SonarrStartupException : NzbDroneException
+    {
+        public SonarrStartupException(string message, params object[] args)
+            : base("Sonarr failed to start: " + string.Format(message, args))
+        {
+
+        }
+
+        public SonarrStartupException(string message)
+            : base("Sonarr failed to start: " + message)
+        {
+
+        }
+
+        public SonarrStartupException()
+            : base("Sonarr failed to start")
+        {
+
+        }
+
+        public SonarrStartupException(Exception innerException, string message, params object[] args)
+            : base("Sonarr failed to start: " + string.Format(message, args), innerException)
+        {
+        }
+
+        public SonarrStartupException(Exception innerException, string message)
+            : base("Sonarr failed to start: " + message, innerException)
+        {
+        }
+
+        public SonarrStartupException(Exception innerException)
+            : base("Sonarr failed to start: " + innerException.Message)
+        {
+
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Common/NzbDrone.Common.csproj b/src/NzbDrone.Common/NzbDrone.Common.csproj
index 162cd5d36..2e2197f52 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Common/NzbDrone.Common.csproj
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Common/NzbDrone.Common.csproj
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@
     <Compile Include="EnvironmentInfo\IOsVersionAdapter.cs" />
     <Compile Include="EnvironmentInfo\IPlatformInfo.cs" />
     <Compile Include="EnvironmentInfo\OsVersionModel.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Exceptions\SonarrStartupException.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Extensions\DictionaryExtensions.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Disk\OsPath.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Disk\DiskProviderBase.cs" />
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Common/Processes/PidFileProvider.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Common/Processes/PidFileProvider.cs
index c04ff445f..04cca6527 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Common/Processes/PidFileProvider.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Common/Processes/PidFileProvider.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 using System.IO;
 using NLog;
 using NzbDrone.Common.EnvironmentInfo;
+using NzbDrone.Common.Exceptions;
 
 namespace NzbDrone.Common.Processes
 {
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Common.Processes
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
                 _logger.Error(ex, "Unable to write PID file {0}", filename);
-                throw;
+                throw new SonarrStartupException(ex, "Unable to write PID file {0}", filename);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Console/ConsoleApp.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Console/ConsoleApp.cs
index 6f935887f..d67ee5a5e 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Console/ConsoleApp.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Console/ConsoleApp.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 using System.Net.Sockets;
 using NLog;
 using NzbDrone.Common.EnvironmentInfo;
+using NzbDrone.Common.Exceptions;
 using NzbDrone.Common.Instrumentation;
 using NzbDrone.Host;
 
@@ -11,6 +12,14 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Console
     {
         private static readonly Logger Logger = NzbDroneLogger.GetLogger(typeof(ConsoleApp));
 
+        private enum ExitCodes : int
+        {
+            Normal = 0,
+            UnknownFailure = 1,
+            RecoverableFailure = 2,
+            NonRecoverableFailure = 3
+        }
+
         public static void Main(string[] args)
         {
             try
@@ -19,30 +28,61 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Console
                 NzbDroneLogger.Register(startupArgs, false, true);
                 Bootstrap.Start(startupArgs, new ConsoleAlerts());
             }
-            catch (SocketException exception)
+            catch (SonarrStartupException ex)
             {
                 System.Console.WriteLine("");
                 System.Console.WriteLine("");
-                Logger.Fatal(exception.Message + ". This can happen if another instance of Sonarr is already running another application is using the same port (default: 8989) or the user has insufficient permissions");
-                System.Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit...");
-                System.Console.ReadLine();
-                Environment.Exit(1);
+                Logger.Fatal(ex, "EPIC FAIL!");
+                Exit(ExitCodes.NonRecoverableFailure);
             }
-            catch (Exception e)
+            catch (SocketException ex)
             {
                 System.Console.WriteLine("");
                 System.Console.WriteLine("");
-                Logger.Fatal(e, "EPIC FAIL!");
-                System.Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit...");
-                System.Console.ReadLine();
-                Environment.Exit(1);
+                Logger.Fatal(ex.Message + ". This can happen if another instance of Sonarr is already running another application is using the same port (default: 8989) or the user has insufficient permissions");
+                Exit(ExitCodes.RecoverableFailure);
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                System.Console.WriteLine("");
+                System.Console.WriteLine("");
+                Logger.Fatal(ex, "EPIC FAIL!");
+                Exit(ExitCodes.UnknownFailure);
             }
 
             Logger.Info("Exiting main.");
 
+            Exit(ExitCodes.Normal);
+        }
+
+        private static void Exit(ExitCodes exitCode)
+        {
+            LogManager.Flush();
+
+            if (exitCode != ExitCodes.Normal)
+            {
+                System.Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit...");
+
+                System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
+
+                if (exitCode == ExitCodes.NonRecoverableFailure)
+                {
+                    System.Console.WriteLine("Non-recoverable failure, waiting for user intervention...");
+                    for (int i = 0; i < 3600; i++)
+                    {
+                        System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
+
+                        if (System.Console.KeyAvailable) break;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                // Please note that ReadLine silently succeeds if there is no console, KeyAvailable does not.
+                System.Console.ReadLine();
+            }
+
             //Need this to terminate on mono (thanks nlog)
             LogManager.Configuration = null;
-            Environment.Exit(0);
+            Environment.Exit((int)exitCode);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Host/Bootstrap.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Host/Bootstrap.cs
index 99deeef58..39244c28a 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Host/Bootstrap.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Host/Bootstrap.cs
@@ -4,9 +4,11 @@ using System.Threading;
 using NLog;
 using NzbDrone.Common.Composition;
 using NzbDrone.Common.EnvironmentInfo;
+using NzbDrone.Common.Exceptions;
 using NzbDrone.Common.Instrumentation;
 using NzbDrone.Common.Processes;
 using NzbDrone.Common.Security;
+using NzbDrone.Core.Configuration;
 using NzbDrone.Core.Datastore;
 using NzbDrone.Core.Instrumentation;
 
@@ -49,9 +51,13 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Host
                     SpinToExit(appMode);
                 }
             }
-            catch (TerminateApplicationException e)
+            catch (InvalidConfigFileException ex)
             {
-                Logger.Info(e.Message);
+                throw new SonarrStartupException(ex);
+            }
+            catch (TerminateApplicationException ex)
+            {
+                Logger.Info(ex.Message);
                 LogManager.Configuration = null;
             }
         }