diff --git a/src/main/java/envoy/client/Config.java b/src/main/java/envoy/client/Config.java
index bbd3b72..0c3a000 100644
--- a/src/main/java/envoy/client/Config.java
+++ b/src/main/java/envoy/client/Config.java
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package envoy.client;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
+import envoy.exception.EnvoyException;
+
 /**
  * Project: <strong>envoy-client</strong><br>
  * File: <strong>Config.java</strong><br>
@@ -29,17 +31,26 @@ public class Config {
 
 	/**
 	 * Defaults to the {@code client.properties} file for information.
+	 * This file contains information about
+	 * the server and port, as well as the path to the local
+	 * database and the synchronization timeout
 	 * 
-	 * @param properties a {@link Properties} object containing information about
-	 *                   the server and port, as well as the path to the local
-	 *                   database and the synchronization timeout
+	 * @throws EnvoyException if the {@code client.properties} file could not be
+	 *                        loaded
 	 * @since Envoy v0.1-alpha
 	 */
-	public void load(Properties properties) {
-		if (properties.containsKey("server")) server = properties.getProperty("server");
-		if (properties.containsKey("port")) port = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty("port"));
-		localDB		= new File(properties.getProperty("localDB", ".\\localDB"));
-		syncTimeout	= Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty("syncTimeout", "1000"));
+	public void load() throws EnvoyException {
+		ClassLoader loader = getClass().getClassLoader();
+		try {
+			Properties properties = new Properties();
+			properties.load(loader.getResourceAsStream("client.properties"));
+			if (properties.containsKey("server")) server = properties.getProperty("server");
+			if (properties.containsKey("port")) port = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty("port"));
+			localDB		= new File(properties.getProperty("localDB", ".\\localDB"));
+			syncTimeout	= Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty("syncTimeout", "1000"));
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			throw new EnvoyException("Failed to load client.properties", e);
+		}
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -47,9 +58,10 @@ public class Config {
 	 * -s, --port / -p and --localDB / -db.
 	 * 
 	 * @param args the command line arguments to parse
+	 * @throws EnvoyException if the command line arguments contain an unknown token
 	 * @since Envoy v0.1-alpha
 	 */
-	public void load(String[] args) {
+	public void load(String[] args) throws EnvoyException {
 		for (int i = 0; i < args.length; i++)
 			switch (args[i]) {
 				case "--server":
@@ -64,6 +76,8 @@ public class Config {
 				case "-db":
 					localDB = new File(args[++i]);
 					break;
+				default:
+					throw new EnvoyException("Unknown token " + args[i] + " found");
 			}
 	}
 
@@ -71,9 +85,7 @@ public class Config {
 	 * @return {@code true} if server, port and localDB directory are known.
 	 * @since Envoy v0.1-alpha
 	 */
-	public boolean isInitialized() {
-		return server != null && !server.isEmpty() && port > 0 && port < 65566 && localDB != null;
-	}
+	public boolean isInitialized() { return server != null && !server.isEmpty() && port > 0 && port < 65566 && localDB != null; }
 
 	/**
 	 * @return the host name of the Envoy server
@@ -114,7 +126,7 @@ public class Config {
 	/**
 	 * Changes the default local database.
 	 * Exclusively intended for development purposes.
-   	 *
+	 *
 	 * @param localDB the file containing the local database
 	 * @since Envoy v0.1-alpha
 	 **/
diff --git a/src/main/java/envoy/client/ui/Startup.java b/src/main/java/envoy/client/ui/Startup.java
index c8373ed..48ce399 100644
--- a/src/main/java/envoy/client/ui/Startup.java
+++ b/src/main/java/envoy/client/ui/Startup.java
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package envoy.client.ui;
 
 import java.awt.EventQueue;
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
@@ -35,24 +33,19 @@ public class Startup {
 
 		Config config = Config.getInstance();
 
-		// Load the configuration from client.properties first
-		ClassLoader loader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
 		try {
-			Properties configProperties = new Properties();
-			configProperties.load(loader.getResourceAsStream("client.properties"));
-			config.load(configProperties);
-		} catch (IOException e) {
-			e.printStackTrace();
-		}
+			// Load the configuration from client.properties first
+			config.load();
 
-		// Override configuration values with command line arguments
-		if (args.length > 0) config.load(args);
+			// Override configuration values with command line arguments
+			if (args.length > 0) config.load(args);
 
-		// Check if all configuration values have been initialized
-		if (!config.isInitialized()) {
-			logger.severe("Server or port are not defined. Exiting...");
-			JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Error loading configuration values.", "Configuration error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
+			// Check if all configuration values have been initialized
+			if (!config.isInitialized()) throw new EnvoyException("Server or port are not defined");
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Error loading configuration values: \n" + e.toString(), "Configuration error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
 			System.exit(1);
+			e.printStackTrace();
 		}
 
 		// Ask the user for their user name