It seems that the long launch time only occurs when there is an active internet connection, at least that's what happens here when using the pse 8 Welcome Scrren to launch the pse 8 editor.
I suggest you skip using the welcome screen and put shortcuts on your desktop that link directly to the pse 8 editor and pse 8 organizer.
Go to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 8.0
right click on the
PhotoshopElementsEditor.exe
then Send to>Desktop (create shortcut)

Do the same for the pse 8 organizer by going to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Elements Organizer 8.0
right click on the
PhotoshopElementsOrganizer.exe
then Send to>Desktop (create shortcut)

on the desktop
