Well if Poser is doing that.. then the folks that built it are more stupid than I ever considered. There be no reason whatsoever you need to be looking thru folder Z if all my stuff is in folder A ( for a dumbed down example )

At any rate..

I downloaded a great defragger called Auslogics Disk Defrag, as well as Windows Advanced Care v2. ( both free )

I managed to render a 800x1000 scene with full DM props and light settings ( Scene #4 from Mixed Fantasy ) with V4 + Dark Kingdom outfit in 9 minutes. I was positive it wasn't even going to render!

Also, My runtime is character specific. - V4 only stuff. I tossed out all the old stuff once i realized I wasn't ever going to go back.

So hopefully the two tools I mentioned can help you others with your problems. As for now, my poser7 is running in a manageable state.