Cubase 8 and Kontakt 5 opening Very SLOW

Exactly the same here.
I first noticed it when I was in a project and I clicked on the icon which opens up your instrument panel - instead of Kontakt opening as usual, the curser turned into the little blue circle of doom. ABout 2 minutes later, Kontakt opened up…
Now, when I load a project it takes forever for the Kontakt-based instruments to open!

Please help!!!