I've been following this thread but couldn't see how I could contribute. Now that I've been summoned by TQ, would be about the right time to join this conversation.
I can only add my acknowledgement to the Sysinternals Process Explores suggestion.
You might also find Microsoft (formerly Sysinternals) Process Monitor useful for determining what exactly a program does. Just use its filters and include only RadioDJ.exe as process name. Then try to run the problematic event in RadioDJ and see which actions take the most time. Note that you shouldn't be running Process Monitor for extended time as it can consume considerable amount of system resources. To stop monitoring, just click the magnifying glass icon in upper left and Process Monitor will stop recording events. After capturing what you needed, you can filter out irrelevant events and highlight those that you are interested in. I suggest you start by highlighting the path of the news directory and scan thought all events until you find the highlighted ones.
Also, you might have to hide unnecessary groups of events by deselecting some icons form the group of buttons on the right side of toolbar.
Uh, I hope that it makes sense.
I have an itch to ask one question: How many files do you have in the directory you specified in path/URL field for the "Newest From Folder" tracks?
If there are many files, like over few hundred, that might be the most likely cause of this issue.
Yes, the bicycle analogy is one of the best analogies for describing computer related concept I've seen.
I also have to rely on analogies in my work with clients. Perhaps my most overused analogy is comparing development of a web site to building a house, when a potential client asks how much a typical web site would cost.
