ID CS2 Windows XP Pro - How long should adding pages take?

Question

I am using InDesign CS2 in Windows XP Pro. I have an ID book file with 13 sections, approximately 20-25 pages in each section. There are approximately 4,000-5,000 images on the pages (total on all pages). I am using auto page numbering and am trying to add three blank pages to the beginning of the second section. It's been working for about two hours so far to make the change. Is this normal? I'm a Macintosh guy, so I'm not sure how long this process should take on a Windows machine. When I open the task manager, it says that InDesign is using 47-54% CPU (it fluctuates between 47 and 54%). I've quit all other apps (except system-related), even though they weren't using any of the processor, but it hasn't sped things up. In the menu bar at the top of the main ID window, it says "not responding," but I've seen that before and then it's started working again.
Is this normal? How long should I wait? I know adding an odd number of pages means that items on pages in the sections after the one to which I'm adding pages have to be shifted from right-hand pages to left-hand pages, but should it be taking this long?
I appreciate any input or suggestions. Thank you.
Lloyd Lathrop

Answer 1

Guys,
Thanks for the replies. I'm actually not sure how these files were set up (before I was here), and I haven't dug into them yet, but I'm trying to fix them (each book file is a 300-page catalog, and we have 10 catalogs...pray for me!). I thought there were 2GB of RAM, so that's one place to start. I'll try to add the pages with all the other sections closed first. I went through each section and they almost all had "sections" beginning on an internal page within the section in addition to the first page of the section. I want "automatic page numbering," so I unchecked "start section" (or whatever it says) on those internal pages.
I'll requisition more RAM and keep plugging away. Thanks for the suggestions.
Lloyd