Forgive the somewhat newbie question, but I can't find the answer so...

I have a small application that has a LOT of labels on it (>100). When the program is running and is minimized and then restored, the screen seems to take a couple of seconds painting all of the fields. Is there a way to have it restore but be invisible and then just perform an action to make it visible? To make matters a little more complicated, I'm minimizing to the notification area. Could that have something to do with it?

Much thanks for your supremely patient and informative responses.