Clear command runs slowly

Hi,

I just got my macbook pro (16GB RAM) with matlab 2012a. One thing I notice is that, when I clear variables, it can take a long time for the prompt (>>) to apear. This happens even when the variable is just a double. But when I try tic-toc the command, the Elapsed time is very short (the message shows up immediately), except the prompt (>>) and the cursor show up much later (>1 seconds). Does anyone know what the problem could be?

Here are some tic-toc results:

>> a = 1;
>> tic; clear a; toc;
Elapsed time is 0.000057 seconds.
>> a = 1;
>> tic; clear a; toc;
Elapsed time is 0.000085 seconds.
>> a = 1;
>> tic; clear a; toc;
Elapsed time is 0.000056 seconds.

The Workspace also has variables that totaled ~730MB. And Matlab uses 1.98GB RAM according to Activity Monitor.

I appreciate any help!

BJ

[Sean de Wolski]

Do you have a lot of network folders or folders in general on your MATLAB path?