diff --git a/umbraco/businesslogic/BasePages/BasePage.cs b/umbraco/businesslogic/BasePages/BasePage.cs
index 373a5c4bd4..e42e004c4a 100644
--- a/umbraco/businesslogic/BasePages/BasePage.cs
+++ b/umbraco/businesslogic/BasePages/BasePage.cs
@@ -181,26 +181,40 @@ namespace umbraco.BasePages {
         /// </summary>
         /// <value>The umbraco user context ID.</value>
         public static string umbracoUserContextID {
-            get {
-                if (System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Request.Cookies.Get("UserContext") != null)
-                    return System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Request.Cookies.Get("UserContext").Value;
-                else
-                    return "";
+            get
+            {
+                if (HttpContext.Current != null)
+                    if (HttpContext.Current.Request != null)
+                        if (HttpContext.Current.Request.Cookies != null)
+                        {
+                            HttpCookie userContext = HttpContext.Current.Request.Cookies.Get("UserContext");
+                            if (userContext != null)
+                                return userContext.Value;
+                        }
+                return "";
             }
             set {
-                // Clearing all old cookies before setting a new one.
-                try {
-                    if (System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Request.Cookies["UserContext"] != null) {
-                        System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Cookies.Clear();
+                if (HttpContext.Current != null)
+                {
+                    // Clearing all old cookies before setting a new one.
+                    try
+                    {
+                        if (HttpContext.Current.Request != null)
+                            if (HttpContext.Current.Request.Cookies["UserContext"] != null)
+                            {
+                                HttpContext.Current.Response.Cookies.Clear();
+                            }
                     }
-                } catch {
+                    catch
+                    {
+                    }
+                    // Create new cookie.
+                    var c = new HttpCookie("UserContext");
+                    c.Name = "UserContext";
+                    c.Value = value;
+                    c.Expires = DateTime.Now.AddDays(1);
+                    HttpContext.Current.Response.Cookies.Add(c);
                 }
-                // Create new cookie.
-                System.Web.HttpCookie c = new System.Web.HttpCookie("UserContext");
-                c.Name = "UserContext";
-                c.Value = value;
-                c.Expires = DateTime.Now.AddDays(1);
-                System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Cookies.Add(c);
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/IOHelper.cs b/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/IOHelper.cs
index 7d229049d8..e5fabe343c 100644
--- a/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/IOHelper.cs
+++ b/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/IOHelper.cs
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ namespace umbraco.IO
 
         public static string MapPath(string path, bool useHttpContext)
         {
+            // Check if the path is already mapped
+            if (path.Length >= 2 && path[1] == Path.VolumeSeparatorChar)      
+                return path;
+
             if (useHttpContext)
             {
                 //string retval;
diff --git a/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/SystemFiles.cs b/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/SystemFiles.cs
index a24639f6e5..48c30aaba9 100644
--- a/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/SystemFiles.cs
+++ b/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/SystemFiles.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Configuration;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
+using System.Web;
 
 namespace umbraco.IO
 {
@@ -76,8 +79,27 @@ namespace umbraco.IO
         {
             get
             {
+                if (ContentCacheXmlIsEphemeral)
+                {
+                    return Path.Combine(HttpRuntime.CodegenDir, @"UmbracoData\umbraco.config");
+                }
                 return IOHelper.returnPath("umbracoContentXML", "~/data/umbraco.config");
             }
         }
+
+        public static bool ContentCacheXmlIsEphemeral
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                bool returnValue = false;
+                string configSetting = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["umbracoContentXMLUseLocalTemp"];
+
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(configSetting))
+                    if(bool.TryParse(configSetting, out returnValue))
+                        return returnValue;
+
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/umbraco/cms/businesslogic/web/DocumentType.cs b/umbraco/cms/businesslogic/web/DocumentType.cs
index fe3e4d9e22..7d51541897 100644
--- a/umbraco/cms/businesslogic/web/DocumentType.cs
+++ b/umbraco/cms/businesslogic/web/DocumentType.cs
@@ -320,7 +320,10 @@ namespace umbraco.cms.businesslogic.web
         public static string GenerateDtd()
         {
             StringBuilder dtd = new StringBuilder();
-            dtd.AppendLine("<!DOCTYPE umbraco [ ");
+            // Renamed 'umbraco' to 'root' since the top level of the DOCTYPE should specify the name of the root node for it to be valid;
+            // there's no mention of 'umbraco' anywhere in the schema that this DOCTYPE governs
+            // (Alex N 20100212)
+            dtd.AppendLine("<!DOCTYPE root [ ");
 
             if (UmbracoSettings.UseLegacyXmlSchema)
             {
@@ -328,13 +331,33 @@ namespace umbraco.cms.businesslogic.web
             }
             else
             {
-                List<DocumentType> dts = GetAllAsList();
-                foreach (DocumentType dt in dts)
+                // TEMPORARY: Added Try-Catch to this call since trying to generate a DTD against a corrupt db
+                // or a broken connection string is not handled yet
+                // (Alex N 20100212)
+                try
                 {
-                    string safeAlias = helpers.Casing.SafeAlias(dt.Alias);
-                    dtd.AppendLine(String.Format("<!ELEMENT {0} ANY>", safeAlias));
-                    dtd.AppendLine(String.Format("<!ATTLIST {0} id ID #REQUIRED>", safeAlias));
+                    StringBuilder strictSchemaBuilder = new StringBuilder();
+
+                    List<DocumentType> dts = GetAllAsList();
+                    foreach (DocumentType dt in dts)
+                    {
+                        string safeAlias = helpers.Casing.SafeAlias(dt.Alias);
+                        if (safeAlias != null)
+                        {
+                            strictSchemaBuilder.AppendLine(String.Format("<!ELEMENT {0} ANY>", safeAlias));
+                            strictSchemaBuilder.AppendLine(String.Format("<!ATTLIST {0} id ID #REQUIRED>", safeAlias));
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    // Only commit the strong schema to the container if we didn't generate an error building it
+                    dtd.Append(strictSchemaBuilder);
                 }
+                catch (Exception exception)
+                {
+                    // Note, Log.Add quietly swallows the exception if it can't write to the database
+                    Log.Add(LogTypes.System, -1, string.Format("{0} while trying to build DTD for Xml schema; is Umbraco installed correctly and the connection string configured?", exception.Message));
+                }
+
             }
             dtd.AppendLine("]>");
 
diff --git a/umbraco/presentation/content.cs b/umbraco/presentation/content.cs
index 131f92df36..ab40a024ed 100644
--- a/umbraco/presentation/content.cs
+++ b/umbraco/presentation/content.cs
@@ -29,7 +29,25 @@ namespace umbraco
     {
         #region Declarations
 
-        private readonly string UmbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName = IOHelper.MapPath(SystemFiles.ContentCacheXml, false);
+        private string _umbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName = IOHelper.MapPath(SystemFiles.ContentCacheXml, false);
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets the path of the umbraco XML disk cache file.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <value>The name of the umbraco XML disk cache file.</value>
+        public string UmbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                return _umbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName;
+            }
+            set
+            {
+                _umbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName = value;
+            }
+        }
+
+
         /*
             HttpRuntime.AppDomainAppPath + '\\' +  
             SystemFiles.ContentCacheXml.Replace('/', '\\').TrimStart('\\');
@@ -60,13 +78,16 @@ namespace umbraco
 
         static content()
         {
-            Trace.Write("Initializing content");
-            ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(
-                delegate
-                {
-                    XmlDocument xmlDoc = Instance.XmlContentInternal;
-                    Trace.WriteLine("Content initialized");
-                });
+            //Trace.Write("Initializing content");
+            //ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(
+            //    delegate
+            //    {
+            //        XmlDocument xmlDoc = Instance.XmlContentInternal;
+            //        Trace.WriteLine("Content initialized");
+            //    });
+
+            Trace.WriteLine("Checking for xml content initialisation...");
+            Instance.CheckXmlContentPopulation();
         }
 
         #endregion
@@ -124,18 +145,7 @@ namespace umbraco
         {
             get
             {
-                if (isInitializing)
-                {
-                    lock (_xmlContentInternalSyncLock)
-                    {
-                        if (isInitializing)
-                        {
-                            _xmlContent = LoadContent();
-                            if (!UmbracoSettings.isXmlContentCacheDisabled && !IsValidDiskCachePresent())
-                                SaveContentToDiskAsync(_xmlContent);
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
+                CheckXmlContentPopulation();
 
                 return _xmlContent;
             }
@@ -157,6 +167,36 @@ namespace umbraco
             }
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Triggers the XML content population if necessary.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        private bool CheckXmlContentPopulation()
+        {
+            if (isInitializing)
+            {
+                lock (_xmlContentInternalSyncLock)
+                {
+                    if (isInitializing)
+                    {
+                        Trace.WriteLine(string.Format("Initializing content on thread '{0}' (Threadpool? {1})", Thread.CurrentThread.Name, Thread.CurrentThread.IsThreadPoolThread.ToString()));
+                        _xmlContent = LoadContent();
+                        Trace.WriteLine("Content initialized (loaded)");
+
+                        // Only save new XML cache to disk if we just repopulated it
+                        // TODO: Re-architect this so that a call to this method doesn't invoke a new thread for saving disk cache
+                        if (!UmbracoSettings.isXmlContentCacheDisabled && !IsValidDiskCachePresent())
+                        {
+                            SaveContentToDiskAsync(_xmlContent);
+                        }
+                        return true;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            Trace.WriteLine("Content initialized (was already in context)");
+            return false;
+        }
+
         #endregion
 
         protected static ISqlHelper SqlHelper
@@ -164,6 +204,8 @@ namespace umbraco
             get { return Application.SqlHelper; }
         }
 
+        
+
         #region Public Methods
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -760,15 +802,30 @@ namespace umbraco
         private XmlDocument LoadContentFromDatabase()
         {
             XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
-            InitContentDocumentBase(xmlDoc);
+            
+            // Moved User to a local variable - why are we causing user 0 to load from the DB though?
+            // Alex N 20100212
+            User staticUser = null;
+            try
+            {
+                staticUser = User.GetCurrent();  //User.GetUser(0);
+            }
+            catch
+            {
+                /* We don't care later if the staticUser is null */
+            }
 
-            Log.Add(LogTypes.System, User.GetUser(0), -1, "Loading content from database...");
+            // Try to log to the DB
+            Log.Add(LogTypes.System, staticUser, -1, "Loading content from database...");
+
+            // Moved this to after the logging since the 2010 schema accesses the DB just to generate the DTD
+            InitContentDocumentBase(xmlDoc);           
 
             Hashtable nodes = new Hashtable();
             Hashtable parents = new Hashtable();
             try
             {
-                Log.Add(LogTypes.Debug, User.GetUser(0), -1, "Republishing starting");
+                Log.Add(LogTypes.Debug, staticUser, -1, "Republishing starting");
 
                 // Esben Carlsen: At some point we really need to put all data access into to a tier of its own.
                 string sql =
@@ -800,8 +857,9 @@ order by umbracoNode.level, umbracoNode.sortOrder";
                     }
                 }
 
-                Log.Add(LogTypes.Debug, User.GetUser(0), -1, "Xml Pages loaded");
+                Log.Add(LogTypes.Debug, staticUser, -1, "Xml Pages loaded");
 
+                // TODO: Why is the following line here, it should have already been generated? Alex N 20100212
                 // Reset
                 InitContentDocumentBase(xmlDoc);
 
@@ -811,23 +869,23 @@ order by umbracoNode.level, umbracoNode.sortOrder";
                 }
                 catch (Exception ee)
                 {
-                    Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, User.GetUser(0), -1,
+                    Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, staticUser, -1,
                             string.Format("Error while generating XmlDocument from database: {0}", ee));
                 }
             }
             catch (OutOfMemoryException)
             {
-                Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, User.GetUser(0), -1,
+                Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, staticUser, -1,
                         string.Format("Error Republishing: Out Of Memory. Parents: {0}, Nodes: {1}",
                                       parents.Count, nodes.Count));
             }
             catch (Exception ee)
             {
-                Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, User.GetUser(0), -1, string.Format("Error Republishing: {0}", ee));
+                Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, staticUser, -1, string.Format("Error Republishing: {0}", ee));
             }
             finally
             {
-                Log.Add(LogTypes.Debug, User.GetUser(0), -1, "Done republishing Xml Index");
+                Log.Add(LogTypes.Debug, staticUser, -1, "Done republishing Xml Index");
             }
 
             return xmlDoc;
@@ -874,20 +932,42 @@ order by umbracoNode.level, umbracoNode.sortOrder";
         {
             lock (_readerWriterSyncLock)
             {
+                Trace.Write(string.Format("Saving content to disk on thread '{0}' (Threadpool? {1})", Thread.CurrentThread.Name, Thread.CurrentThread.IsThreadPoolThread.ToString()));
+
+                // Moved the user into a variable and avoided it throwing an error if one can't be loaded (e.g. empty / corrupt db on initial install)
+                User staticUser = null;
+                try
+                {
+                    staticUser = User.GetCurrent();
+                }
+                catch
+                {}
+
                 try
                 {
                     Stopwatch stopWatch = Stopwatch.StartNew();
 
                     ClearDiskCache();
+
+                    // Try to create directory for cache path if it doesn't yet exist
+                    if (!File.Exists(UmbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName) && !Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(UmbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName)))
+                    {
+                        // We're already in a try-catch and saving will fail if this does, so don't need another
+                        Directory.CreateDirectory(UmbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName);
+                    }
+
                     xmlDoc.Save(UmbracoXmlDiskCacheFileName);
 
-                    Log.Add(LogTypes.Debug, User.GetUser(0), -1, string.Format("Xml saved in {0}", stopWatch.Elapsed));
+                    Trace.Write(string.Format("Saved content on thread '{0}' in {1} (Threadpool? {2})", Thread.CurrentThread.Name, stopWatch.Elapsed, Thread.CurrentThread.IsThreadPoolThread.ToString()));
+                   Log.Add(LogTypes.Debug, staticUser, -1, string.Format("Xml saved in {0}", stopWatch.Elapsed));
                 }
                 catch (Exception ee)
                 {
                     // If for whatever reason something goes wrong here, invalidate disk cache
                     ClearDiskCache();
-                    Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, User.GetUser(0), -1, string.Format("Xml wasn't saved: {0}", ee));
+
+                    Trace.Write(string.Format("Error saving content on thread '{0}' due to '{1}' (Threadpool? {2})", Thread.CurrentThread.Name, ee.Message, Thread.CurrentThread.IsThreadPoolThread.ToString()));
+                    Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, staticUser, -1, string.Format("Xml wasn't saved: {0}", ee));
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/umbraco/presentation/install/steps/detect.ascx.cs b/umbraco/presentation/install/steps/detect.ascx.cs
index f2fd26545b..649a3d65ca 100644
--- a/umbraco/presentation/install/steps/detect.ascx.cs
+++ b/umbraco/presentation/install/steps/detect.ascx.cs
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ namespace umbraco.presentation.install.steps
                 DbConnectionStringBuilder connectionStringBuilder = new DbConnectionStringBuilder();
                 connectionStringBuilder.ConnectionString = GlobalSettings.DbDSN;
 
+                // "Data Source=.\\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=BB_Umbraco_Sandbox1;integrated security=false;user id=umbraco;pwd=umbraco"
+
                 // Prepare the fields
 
                 // Prepare data layer type
@@ -97,9 +99,12 @@ namespace umbraco.presentation.install.steps
 
                 // Prepare other fields
                 DatabaseServer.Text = GetConnectionStringValue(connectionStringBuilder, "server");
+                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(DatabaseServer.Text)) DatabaseServer.Text = GetConnectionStringValue(connectionStringBuilder, "Data Source");
                 DatabaseName.Text = GetConnectionStringValue(connectionStringBuilder, "database");
+                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(DatabaseName.Text)) DatabaseName.Text = GetConnectionStringValue(connectionStringBuilder, "Initial Catalog");
                 DatabaseUsername.Text = GetConnectionStringValue(connectionStringBuilder, "user id");
                 DatabasePassword.Text = GetConnectionStringValue(connectionStringBuilder, "password");
+                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(DatabasePassword.Text)) DatabasePassword.Text = GetConnectionStringValue(connectionStringBuilder, "pwd");
             }
 
             // Make sure ASP.Net displays the password text
diff --git a/umbraco/presentation/requestModule.cs b/umbraco/presentation/requestModule.cs
index 1b857298cd..46ed967aa1 100644
--- a/umbraco/presentation/requestModule.cs
+++ b/umbraco/presentation/requestModule.cs
@@ -232,7 +232,18 @@ namespace umbraco.presentation
                         else
                             error = "No Context available -> "
                                     + mApp.Context.Server.GetLastError().InnerException;
-                        Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, User.GetUser(0), -1, error);
+
+                        // Hide error if getting the user throws an error (e.g. corrupt / blank db)
+                        User staticUser = null;
+                        try
+                        {
+                            User.GetCurrent();
+                        }
+                        catch
+                        {
+                        }
+
+                        Log.Add(LogTypes.Error, staticUser, -1, error);
                         Trace.TraceError(error);
                         lock (unhandledErrors)
                         {
diff --git a/umbraco/presentation/umbraco_client/CodeMirror/css/docs.css b/umbraco/presentation/umbraco_client/CodeMirror/css/docs.css
index c86b7d7c51..88ea256097 100644
--- a/umbraco/presentation/umbraco_client/CodeMirror/css/docs.css
+++ b/umbraco/presentation/umbraco_client/CodeMirror/css/docs.css
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ h2 {
   font-size: 14pt;
 }
 
+h3 {
+  font-size: 12pt;
+}
+
 p.rel {
   padding-left: 2em;
   text-indent: -2em;
diff --git a/umbraco/presentation/web.STANDARD.config b/umbraco/presentation/web.STANDARD.config
index 57374c21e9..25ee4719ef 100644
--- a/umbraco/presentation/web.STANDARD.config
+++ b/umbraco/presentation/web.STANDARD.config
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
     <add key="umbracoProfileUrl" value="profiler" />
     <add key="umbracoUseSSL" value="false" />
     <add key="umbracoUseMediumTrust" value="false" />
+    <add key="umbracoContentXMLUseLocalTemp" value="false"/> <!-- Set to true to write this to the local CodeGenDir instead, in SAN / NAS situations -->
   </appSettings>
   <system.net>
     <mailSettings>
@@ -226,4 +227,4 @@
     </assemblyBinding>
   </runtime>
   
-</configuration>
\ No newline at end of file
+</configuration>
diff --git a/umbraco/presentation/web.config b/umbraco/presentation/web.config
index b7699b83bf..be28a290aa 100644
--- a/umbraco/presentation/web.config
+++ b/umbraco/presentation/web.config
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
   <UmbracoExamine configSource="config\ExamineSettings.config" />
   <ExamineLuceneIndexSets configSource="config\ExamineIndex.config" />
   <appSettings>
-    <add key="umbracoDbDSN" value="server=.\sqlexpress;database=UmbracoTest2;user id=sa;password=test" />
+    <add key="umbracoDbDSN" value="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=BB_Umbraco_Sandbox1;integrated security=false;user id=umbraco;pwd=umbraco" />
     <add key="umbracoConfigurationStatus" value="4.1.0.beta" />
     <add key="umbracoReservedUrls" value="~/config/splashes/booting.aspx,~/install/default.aspx,~/config/splashes/noNodes.aspx" />
     <add key="umbracoReservedPaths" value="~/umbraco,~/install/" />
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@
     <add key="umbracoProfileUrl" value="profiler" />
     <add key="umbracoUseSSL" value="false" />
     <add key="umbracoUseMediumTrust" value="false" />
+    <add key="umbracoContentXMLUseLocalTemp" value="false" />
+    <!-- Set to true to write this to the local CodeGenDir instead, in SAN / NAS situations -->
   </appSettings>
   <system.net>
     <mailSettings>