diff --git a/anki/media.py b/anki/media.py
index 7493964b1..00971b729 100644
--- a/anki/media.py
+++ b/anki/media.py
@@ -221,14 +221,17 @@ create table meta (dirMod int, lastUsn int); insert into meta values (0, 0);
             txt = re.sub(reg, "", txt)
         return txt
 
-    def escapeImages(self, string):
+    def escapeImages(self, string, unescape=False):
         def repl(match):
             tag = match.group(0)
             fname = match.group("fname")
             if re.match("(https?|ftp)://", fname):
                 return tag
-            return tag.replace(
-                fname, urllib.quote(fname.encode("utf-8")))
+            if unescape:
+                txt = urllib.unquote(fname)
+            else:
+                txt = urllib.quote(fname.encode("utf-8"))
+            return tag.replace(fname, txt)
         for reg in self.imgRegexps:
             string = re.sub(reg, repl, string)
         return string
@@ -381,9 +384,13 @@ create table meta (dirMod int, lastUsn int); insert into meta values (0, 0);
             if self.hasIllegal(f):
                 continue
             # empty files are invalid; clean them up and continue
-            if not os.path.getsize(f):
+            sz = os.path.getsize(f)
+            if not sz:
                 os.unlink(f)
                 continue
+            if sz > 100*1024*1024:
+                self.col.log("ignoring file over 100MB", f)
+                continue
             # check encoding
             if not isMac:
                 normf = unicodedata.normalize("NFC", f)
@@ -439,6 +446,10 @@ create table meta (dirMod int, lastUsn int); insert into meta values (0, 0);
         return self.db.scalar(
             "select count() from media where csum is not null")
 
+    def dirtyCount(self):
+        return self.db.scalar(
+            "select count() from media where dirty=1")
+
     def forceResync(self):
         self.db.execute("delete from media")
         self.db.execute("update meta set lastUsn=0,dirMod=0")
diff --git a/anki/sync.py b/anki/sync.py
index cab986cae..2b9dc3b26 100644
--- a/anki/sync.py
+++ b/anki/sync.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ from anki.utils import ids2str, intTime, json, isWin, isMac, platDesc, checksum
 from anki.consts import *
 from hooks import runHook
 import anki
+from lang import ngettext
 
 # syncing vars
 HTTP_TIMEOUT = 90
@@ -740,6 +741,7 @@ class MediaSyncer(object):
 
         # loop through and process changes from server
         self.col.log("last local usn is %s"%lastUsn)
+        self.downloadCount = 0
         while True:
             data = self.server.mediaChanges(lastUsn=lastUsn)
 
@@ -789,11 +791,16 @@ class MediaSyncer(object):
         # and we need to send our own
 
         updateConflict = False
+        toSend = self.col.media.dirtyCount()
         while True:
             zip, fnames = self.col.media.mediaChangesZip()
             if not fnames:
                 break
 
+            runHook("syncMsg", ngettext(
+                "%d media change to upload", "%d media changes to upload", toSend)
+                    % toSend)
+
             processedCnt, serverLastUsn = self.server.uploadChanges(zip)
             self.col.media.markClean(fnames[0:processedCnt])
 
@@ -811,6 +818,8 @@ class MediaSyncer(object):
                 self.col.media.db.commit()
                 updateConflict = True
 
+            toSend -= processedCnt
+
         if updateConflict:
             self.col.log("restart sync due to concurrent update")
             return self.sync()
@@ -830,15 +839,14 @@ class MediaSyncer(object):
             self.col.log("fetch %s"%top)
             zipData = self.server.downloadFiles(files=top)
             cnt = self.col.media.addFilesFromZip(zipData)
+            self.downloadCount += cnt
             self.col.log("received %d files"%cnt)
             fnames = fnames[cnt:]
 
-    def files(self):
-        return self.col.media.addFilesToZip()
-
-    def addFiles(self, zip):
-        "True if zip is the last in set. Server returns new usn instead."
-        return self.col.media.addFilesFromZip(zip)
+            n = self.downloadCount
+            runHook("syncMsg", ngettext(
+                "%d media file downloaded", "%d media files downloaded", n)
+                    % n)
 
 # Remote media syncing
 ##########################################################################
diff --git a/aqt/editor.py b/aqt/editor.py
index 9b102b88c..b83c74678 100644
--- a/aqt/editor.py
+++ b/aqt/editor.py
@@ -449,6 +449,8 @@ class Editor(object):
             txt = self.mungeHTML(txt)
             # misbehaving apps may include a null byte in the text
             txt = txt.replace("\x00", "")
+            # reverse the url quoting we added to get images to display
+            txt = self.mw.col.media.escapeImages(txt, unescape=True)
             self.note.fields[self.currentField] = txt
             if not self.addMode:
                 self.note.flush()
diff --git a/aqt/errors.py b/aqt/errors.py
index 533b37f46..1ce1421e6 100644
--- a/aqt/errors.py
+++ b/aqt/errors.py
@@ -65,6 +65,23 @@ Anki manual for more information.""")
                                  "other programs are not using the audio device."))
         if "invalidTempFolder" in error:
             return showWarning(self.tempFolderMsg())
+        if "disk I/O error" in error:
+            return showWarning(_("""\
+An error occurred while accessing the database.
+
+Possible causes:
+
+- Antivirus, firewall, backup, or synchronization software may be \
+  interfering with Anki. Try disabling such software and see if the \
+  problem goes away.
+- Your disk may be full.
+- The Documents/Anki folder may be on a network drive.
+- Files in the Documents/Anki folder may not be writeable.
+- Your hard disk may have errors.
+
+It's a good idea to run Tools>Check Database to ensure your collection \
+is not corrupt.
+"""))
         stdText = _("""\
 An error occurred. It may have been caused by a harmless bug, <br>
 or your deck may have a problem.
diff --git a/aqt/sync.py b/aqt/sync.py
index f56482266..e3bc5d517 100644
--- a/aqt/sync.py
+++ b/aqt/sync.py
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@ Please visit AnkiWeb, upgrade your deck, then try again."""))
             if m:
                 self.label = m
                 self._updateLabel()
+        elif evt == "syncMsg":
+            self.label = args[0]
+            self._updateLabel()
         elif evt == "error":
             self._didError = True
             showText(_("Syncing failed:\n%s")%
@@ -296,6 +299,8 @@ class SyncThread(QThread):
         self.byteUpdate = time.time()
         def syncEvent(type):
             self.fireEvent("sync", type)
+        def syncMsg(msg):
+            self.fireEvent("syncMsg", msg)
         def canPost():
             if (time.time() - self.byteUpdate) > 0.1:
                 self.byteUpdate = time.time()
@@ -309,6 +314,7 @@ class SyncThread(QThread):
             if canPost():
                 self.fireEvent("recv", self.recvTotal)
         addHook("sync", syncEvent)
+        addHook("syncMsg", syncMsg)
         addHook("httpSend", sendEvent)
         addHook("httpRecv", recvEvent)
         # run sync and catch any errors
@@ -323,6 +329,7 @@ class SyncThread(QThread):
             # don't bump mod time unless we explicitly save
             self.col.close(save=False)
             remHook("sync", syncEvent)
+            remHook("syncMsg", syncMsg)
             remHook("httpSend", sendEvent)
             remHook("httpRecv", recvEvent)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_media.py b/tests/test_media.py
index 243c21516..b18969b5f 100644
--- a/tests/test_media.py
+++ b/tests/test_media.py
@@ -71,9 +71,11 @@ def test_changes():
     d = getEmptyCol()
     assert d.media._changed()
     def added():
-        return d.media.db.execute("select fname from log where type = 0")
+        return d.media.db.execute("select fname from media where csum is not null")
+    def removed():
+        return d.media.db.execute("select fname from media where csum is null")
     assert not list(added())
-    assert not list(d.media.removed())
+    assert not list(removed())
     # add a file
     dir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="anki")
     path = os.path.join(dir, u"foo.jpg")
@@ -83,24 +85,24 @@ def test_changes():
     # should have been logged
     d.media.findChanges()
     assert list(added())
-    assert not list(d.media.removed())
+    assert not list(removed())
     # if we modify it, the cache won't notice
     time.sleep(1)
     open(path, "w").write("world")
     assert len(list(added())) == 1
-    assert not list(d.media.removed())
+    assert not list(removed())
     # but if we add another file, it will
     time.sleep(1)
     open(path+"2", "w").write("yo")
     d.media.findChanges()
     assert len(list(added())) == 2
-    assert not list(d.media.removed())
+    assert not list(removed())
     # deletions should get noticed too
     time.sleep(1)
     os.unlink(path+"2")
     d.media.findChanges()
     assert len(list(added())) == 1
-    assert len(list(d.media.removed())) == 1
+    assert len(list(removed())) == 1
 
 def test_illegal():
     d = getEmptyCol()