That can depend on several things...

processor speed
graphics processing speed
image size
ect.

You could look into pre-loading the image when the application initializes. I don't have VS installed on this computer or I'd tell you the exact event for that...


As for the image being deleted, instead of using a link to the image you could copy the image to the Resources of the solution and use it from there. If it is a server based program, copy it to a different directory where it won't be deleted and use that link.