diff --git a/Data/Sys/GameSettings/GXE.ini b/Data/Sys/GameSettings/GXE.ini
index 84c522725b..cbbcdadc33 100644
--- a/Data/Sys/GameSettings/GXE.ini
+++ b/Data/Sys/GameSettings/GXE.ini
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 [Core]
 # Values set here will override the main Dolphin settings.
+FastDiscSpeed = True
 
 [EmuState]
 # The Emulation State. 1 is worst, 5 is best, 0 is not set.
diff --git a/Source/Core/Core/Boot/Boot_BS2Emu.cpp b/Source/Core/Core/Boot/Boot_BS2Emu.cpp
index 3ab6ed6c58..6ee859c73a 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Core/Boot/Boot_BS2Emu.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Core/Boot/Boot_BS2Emu.cpp
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ bool CBoot::EmulatedBS2_GC(bool skipAppLoader)
 	// Write necessary values
 	// Here we write values to memory that the apploader does not take care of. Game info goes
 	// to 0x80000000 according to YAGCD 4.2.
-	DVDInterface::DVDRead(/*offset*/0x00000000, /*address*/0x00000000, 0x20, false); // write disc info
+
+	// It's possible to boot DOL and ELF files without a disc inserted
+	if (DVDInterface::VolumeIsValid())
+		DVDInterface::DVDRead(/*offset*/0x00000000, /*address*/0x00000000, 0x20, false); // write disc info
 
 	PowerPC::HostWrite_U32(0x0D15EA5E, 0x80000020); // Booted from bootrom. 0xE5207C22 = booted from jtag
 	PowerPC::HostWrite_U32(Memory::REALRAM_SIZE, 0x80000028); // Physical Memory Size (24MB on retail)
@@ -81,6 +84,9 @@ bool CBoot::EmulatedBS2_GC(bool skipAppLoader)
 
 	HLE::Patch(0x81300000, "OSReport"); // HLE OSReport for Apploader
 
+	if (!DVDInterface::VolumeIsValid())
+		return false;
+
 	// Load Apploader to Memory - The apploader is hardcoded to begin at 0x2440 on the disc,
 	// but the size can differ between discs. Compare with YAGCD chap 13.
 	const DiscIO::IVolume& volume = DVDInterface::GetVolume();
diff --git a/Source/Core/DiscIO/DiscScrubber.cpp b/Source/Core/DiscIO/DiscScrubber.cpp
index db68027f8c..1546abf0b5 100644
--- a/Source/Core/DiscIO/DiscScrubber.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/DiscIO/DiscScrubber.cpp
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ bool SetupScrub(const std::string& filename, int block_size)
 	m_BlocksPerCluster = CLUSTER_SIZE / m_BlockSize;
 
 	m_Disc = CreateVolumeFromFilename(filename);
+	if (!m_Disc)
+		return false;
+
 	m_FileSize = m_Disc->GetSize();
 
 	u32 numClusters = (u32)(m_FileSize / CLUSTER_SIZE);