diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/CPUDetect.cpp b/Source/Core/Common/Src/CPUDetect.cpp
index b0908758d5..cd77d37346 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/CPUDetect.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/CPUDetect.cpp
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ void CPUInfo::Detect()
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #ifdef _M_IX86
 	BOOL f64 = false;
-	OS64bit = IsWow64Process(GetCurrentProcess(), &f64);
+	IsWow64Process(GetCurrentProcess(), &f64);
+	OS64bit = (f64 == TRUE) ? true : false;
 #endif
 #endif
 	
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/Common.h b/Source/Core/Common/Src/Common.h
index a2ae46ff52..7f942476ff 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/Common.h
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/Common.h
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@
 		#ifndef _SECURE_SCL
 			#error Please define _SECURE_SCL=0 in the project settings
 		#else
-			CompileTimeAssert<_SECURE_SCL==0> x;
+			CompileTimeAssert<_SECURE_SCL==0> EnsureNoSecureSCL;
 		#endif
 	}
 
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/CommonPaths.h b/Source/Core/Common/Src/CommonPaths.h
index f32236f9b4..3250c4fe7f 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/CommonPaths.h
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/CommonPaths.h
@@ -115,10 +115,10 @@
 // Shorts - dirs
 // User dirs
 #define FULL_USERDATA_DIR	ROOT_DIR DIR_SEP USERDATA_DIR DIR_SEP
-#define T_FULLUSERDATA_DIR _T(ROOT_DIR) _T(DIR_SEP) _T(USERDATA_DIR) _T(DIR_SEP)
+#define T_FULLUSERDATA_DIR	_T(ROOT_DIR) _T(DIR_SEP) _T(USERDATA_DIR) _T(DIR_SEP)
 
 #define FULL_GC_USER_DIR	FULL_USERDATA_DIR GC_USER_DIR DIR_SEP
-#define T_FULL_GC_USER_DIR T_FULLUSERDATA_DIR _T(GC_USER_DIR) _T(DIR_SEP)
+#define T_FULL_GC_USER_DIR	T_FULLUSERDATA_DIR _T(GC_USER_DIR) _T(DIR_SEP)
 
 #define FULL_WII_USER_DIR	FULL_USERDATA_DIR WII_USER_DIR DIR_SEP
 #define FULL_WII_ROOT_DIR	FULL_USERDATA_DIR WII_USER_DIR // This is the "root" for Wii fs, so that it may be used with created devices
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/FileUtil.cpp b/Source/Core/Common/Src/FileUtil.cpp
index 4c86d071e4..0879ede119 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/FileUtil.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/FileUtil.cpp
@@ -487,18 +487,20 @@ bool DeleteDirRecursively(const char *directory)
 	return true;
 }
 
-// Returns the current directory, caller should free
-const char *GetCurrentDir()
+// Returns the current directory
+std::string GetCurrentDir()
 {
-	const char *dir;
+	char *dir;
 	// Get the current working directory (getcwd uses malloc) 
 	if (!(dir = __getcwd(NULL, 0))) {
 
 		ERROR_LOG(COMMON, "GetCurrentDirectory failed: %s",
 				  GetLastErrorMsg());
-		return NULL;	
+		return NULL;
 	}
-	return dir;
+	std::string strDir = dir;
+	free(dir);
+	return strDir;
 }
 
 // Sets the current directory to the given directory
@@ -577,14 +579,15 @@ std::string GetSysDirectory()
 	sysDir = GetBundleDirectory();
 	sysDir += DIR_SEP;
 	sysDir += SYSDATA_DIR;
+	sysDir += DIR_SEP;
 #elif defined __linux__
 	sysDir = SYSDATA_DIR;
+	sysDir += DIR_SEP;
 	// FIXME global install
 #else
-	sysDir = SYSDATA_DIR;	
+	sysDir = FULL_SYSDATA_DIR;	
 #endif
 
-	sysDir += DIR_SEP;
 	INFO_LOG(COMMON, "GetSysDirectory: Setting to %s:", sysDir.c_str());
 	return sysDir;
 }
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/FileUtil.h b/Source/Core/Common/Src/FileUtil.h
index 48871644ab..c4a4abd2a7 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/FileUtil.h
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/FileUtil.h
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 
 namespace File
 {
-	
+
 // FileSystem tree node/ 
 struct FSTEntry
 {
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@ struct FSTEntry
 	std::string virtualName;		// name in FST names table
 	std::vector<FSTEntry> children;
 };
-	
+
 // Returns true if file filename exists
 bool Exists(const char *filename);
- 
+
 // Returns true if filename is a directory
 bool IsDirectory(const char *filename);
 
@@ -64,31 +64,31 @@ bool Rename(const char *srcFilename, const char *destFilename);
 
 // copies file srcFilename to destFilename, returns true on success 
 bool Copy(const char *srcFilename, const char *destFilename);
- 
+
 // creates an empty file filename, returns true on success 
 bool CreateEmptyFile(const char *filename);
 
 // Scans the directory tree gets, starting from _Directory and adds the
 // results into parentEntry. Returns the number of files+directories found
 u32 ScanDirectoryTree(const char *directory, FSTEntry& parentEntry);
- 
+
 // deletes the given directory and anything under it. Returns true on success.
 bool DeleteDirRecursively(const char *directory);
- 
-// Returns the current directory, caller should free
-const char *GetCurrentDir();
- 
+
+// Returns the current directory
+std::string GetCurrentDir();
+
 // Set the current directory to given directory
 bool SetCurrentDir(const char *directory);
- 
+
 
 // Returns a pointer to a string with a Dolphin data dir in the user's home
 // directory. To be used in "multi-user" mode (that is, installed).
 const char *GetUserDirectory();
- 
+
 // Returns the path to where the plugins are
 std::string GetPluginsDirectory();
- 
+
 // Returns the path to where the sys file are
 std::string GetSysDirectory();
 
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/MemArena.cpp b/Source/Core/Common/Src/MemArena.cpp
index ace189a3ec..fb9e6e03af 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/MemArena.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/MemArena.cpp
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ static const char* ram_temp_file = "/tmp/gc_mem.tmp";
 void MemArena::GrabLowMemSpace(size_t size)
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
-	hMemoryMapping = CreateFileMapping(NULL, NULL, PAGE_READWRITE, 0, (DWORD)(size), _T("All GC Memory"));
+	hMemoryMapping = CreateFileMapping(INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE, NULL, PAGE_READWRITE, 0, (DWORD)(size), _T("All GC Memory"));
 #else
 	mode_t mode = S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR | S_IRGRP | S_IROTH;
 	fd = open(ram_temp_file, O_RDWR | O_CREAT, mode);
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/MemoryUtil.cpp b/Source/Core/Common/Src/MemoryUtil.cpp
index abdd0dfaa6..acbdaabcbe 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/MemoryUtil.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/MemoryUtil.cpp
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 #define MAP_VARIABLE 0
 #endif
 
-// This is purposedely not a full wrapper for virtualalloc/mmap, but it
+// This is purposely not a full wrapper for virtualalloc/mmap, but it
 // provides exactly the primitive operations that Dolphin needs.
 
 void* AllocateExecutableMemory(size_t size, bool low)
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ void* AllocateExecutableMemory(size_t size, bool low)
 		// If this happens, we have to implement a free ram search scheme. ector knows how.
 	}
 
-	return(ptr);
+	return ptr;
 
 #else
 	void* retval = mmap(0, size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE | PROT_EXEC,
@@ -65,12 +65,11 @@ void* AllocateExecutableMemory(size_t size, bool low)
 		PanicAlert("Failed to allocate executable memory, errno=%i", errno);
 	}
 
-	return(retval);
+	return retval;
 #endif
 
 }
 
-
 void* AllocateMemoryPages(size_t size)
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -81,7 +80,7 @@ void* AllocateMemoryPages(size_t size)
 		PanicAlert("Failed to allocate raw memory");
 	}
 
-	return(ptr);
+	return ptr;
 
 #else
 	void* retval = mmap(0, size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
@@ -93,43 +92,43 @@ void* AllocateMemoryPages(size_t size)
 		PanicAlert("Failed to allocate raw memory, errno=%i", errno);
 	}
 
-	return(retval);
+	return retval;
 #endif
 
 }
 
-
 void FreeMemoryPages(void* ptr, size_t size)
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
 	if (ptr)
 	{
-		VirtualFree(ptr, 0, MEM_RELEASE);
-		ptr = NULL;
+		if (!VirtualFree(ptr, 0, MEM_RELEASE))
+			PanicAlert("FreeMemoryPages failed!\n%s", GetLastErrorMsg());
+		ptr = NULL; // Is this our responsibility?
 	}
 #else
 	munmap(ptr, size);
 #endif
 }
 
-
 void WriteProtectMemory(void* ptr, size_t size, bool allowExecute)
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
-	VirtualProtect(ptr, size, allowExecute ? PAGE_EXECUTE_READ : PAGE_READONLY, 0);
+	DWORD oldValue;
+	if (!VirtualProtect(ptr, size, allowExecute ? PAGE_EXECUTE_READ : PAGE_READONLY, &oldValue))
+		PanicAlert("WriteProtectMemory failed!\n%s", GetLastErrorMsg());
 #else
 	mprotect(ptr, size, allowExecute ? (PROT_READ | PROT_EXEC) : PROT_READ);
 #endif
 }
 
-
 void UnWriteProtectMemory(void* ptr, size_t size, bool allowExecute)
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
-	VirtualProtect(ptr, size, allowExecute ? PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE : PAGE_READONLY, 0);
+	DWORD oldValue;
+	if (!VirtualProtect(ptr, size, allowExecute ? PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE : PAGE_READWRITE, &oldValue))
+		PanicAlert("UnWriteProtectMemory failed!\n%s", GetLastErrorMsg());
 #else
 	mprotect(ptr, size, allowExecute ? (PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE | PROT_EXEC) : PROT_WRITE | PROT_READ);
 #endif
 }
-
-
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/SDCardUtil.cpp b/Source/Core/Common/Src/SDCardUtil.cpp
index 90f8451c4a..689fc1ffd2 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/SDCardUtil.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/SDCardUtil.cpp
@@ -206,7 +206,10 @@ bool SDCardCreate(u32 disk_size /*in MB*/, char* filename)
 
 	f = fopen(filename, "wb");
 	if (!f)
+	{
 		ERROR_LOG(COMMON, "could not create file '%s', aborting...\n", filename);
+		return false;
+	}
 
 	/* here's the layout:
 	*
@@ -246,7 +249,8 @@ bool SDCardCreate(u32 disk_size /*in MB*/, char* filename)
 
 FailWrite:
 	ERROR_LOG(COMMON, "could not write to '%s', aborting...\n", filename);
-	unlink(filename);
+	if (unlink(filename) < 0)
+		ERROR_LOG(COMMON, "unlink(%s) failed\n%s", filename, GetLastErrorMsg());
 	fclose(f);
 	return false;
 }
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Src/Thread.cpp b/Source/Core/Common/Src/Thread.cpp
index aa9f5c4a2e..0cd237e2f8 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/Src/Thread.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Src/Thread.cpp
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 #include "Setup.h"
 #include "Thread.h"
-#include "Log.h"
+#include "Common.h"
 
 #ifdef USE_BEGINTHREADEX
 #include <process.h>
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ CriticalSection::CriticalSection(int spincount)
 {
 	if (spincount)
 	{
-		InitializeCriticalSectionAndSpinCount(&section, spincount);
+		if (!InitializeCriticalSectionAndSpinCount(&section, spincount))
+			ERROR_LOG(COMMON, "CriticalSection could not be initialized!\n%s", GetLastErrorMsg());
 	}
 	else
 	{
@@ -195,6 +196,8 @@ typedef struct tagTHREADNAME_INFO
 // Uses undocumented (actually, it is now documented) trick.
 // http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/vsdebug/html/vxtsksettingthreadname.asp
 
+// This is implemented much nicer in upcoming msvc++, see:
+// http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xcb2z8hs(VS.100).aspx
 void SetCurrentThreadName(const TCHAR* szThreadName)
 {
 	THREADNAME_INFO info;
diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinWX/Src/Main.cpp b/Source/Core/DolphinWX/Src/Main.cpp
index 7f6e7250e2..47a09e1a9d 100644
--- a/Source/Core/DolphinWX/Src/Main.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/DolphinWX/Src/Main.cpp
@@ -19,10 +19,6 @@
 #include <string>
 #include "svnrev.h"
 
-#ifdef WIN32
-#include <crtdbg.h>
-#endif
-
 #ifdef __APPLE__
 #include <sys/param.h>
 #endif