The Add Data dialog takes a long time to open, can I change anything to make it go faster?
For large directories that contain many data files or directories on the network, this process can take extra time. You can reduce the amount of time this takes by removing selected types of data that are checked for. To do this, in ArcCatalog, select the Tools menu and choose Options. On the General tab, uncheck data types that you do not use. This way ArcMap and ArcCatalog will not check for these data types, resulting in a performance increase. Another good idea is to limit the number of mounted drives and folder connections to only those you use frequently. This will further reduce the amount of work ArcMap and ArcCatalog spend on data browsing.
