Okay, more research....
Slowdown PROBABLY due to size of the HOSTS blocking file I use (1.13MB) - DNS Client service attempts to cache this on starting (though quite why this should take SO-O-O-O-O long I don't know.
A real jewel for those of you who use HOSTS is the neat little freeware program HostsMan from
http://www.abelhadigital.com/ {reference in Widers Security Forums -
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=61384 }
GUI - Check for errors, remove duplicates, disable DNS caching service, edit, lock etc. Very neat indeed. Good candidate for FAQs and/or best downloads.
We live and learn.....