Encore 2.0 Very slow when switching apps

Question

I have only been using Encore for about 2 weeks since I got it as part of the production studio suite. I must admit I am really taking to this product having got over the initial learning curve.
But I do have a problem with it's performance when switching from any other app. I tend to restrict running apps to those I need for the project, such as premier, AE,photoshop.
If for example I edit a menu in Photoshop and then return to Encore,the Encore menu bar is drawn immediately but it can take up a minute for the rest of the UI to be drawn.
The system is WinXP2 pro on a p4 with 2gb ram. The entire project and
files are on an external USB drive which has about 150GB free space.
The issue doesn't appear to be disk access but I do notice one of the HT CPU's tops out at 100% ish whilst this is happening.
I am running a virus checker (McAfee) but have this set to only check programs
Any suggestions willingly received!
Dave

Answer 1

More info:
Not suprisingly this problem appears to get worse depending on the complexity of the Encore project. First let me give you an example of how I measure this "slowness"!
1) Lauch Encore 2.0 from start bar.Takes 20 seconds before it asks for new/existing project...maybe a bit slow but not a big deal.
2) Create a new project on a drive with 100GB+ space and call it forum test. Takes less than 5 seconds before app is stable and UI is ready.
3) Mimize/maximize application. Instantaneous...great so far!
4) Open existing project with multiple slide shows (8) animated menues with audio and about 30 minutes of video. Project has about 15 menus. Takes 5 minutes to open and CPU to settle back down. Disk IO not the bottleneck here. OK, it's slow to load but I can live with that!
5) as a test, launch notepad...Launch instantaneous...as you would expect..have task manager running at the same time..
6) With Encore doing nothing in the backgroumd, minimize notepad so encore gets focus. Immediately in task manager the CPU goes up to 50% (P4 HT) and sits therefore 4 minutes and then the app is usable again. Minimize Encore and maximise notepad pad. Launch Premier Pro 2.0 and open a project - few seconds. Minimise Premier - instant. Max premier. Instant. Close notepad and premier. Instant.
7) Max Encore...5 minutes...once the app has got focus it may not be the fastest in the world but it is usable. The trouble is I find in a complex DVD project I do need to use other apps such as photoshop and premier...
Any other suggestions?
Thanks in Advance,
Dave