All was well with Build 20027. It started up rather quickly. But it seems like every time I install a new version, in this case Build 20032, it take 40 seconds for PhpED to start up. That's how long the "Getting Started . . . " message stays on the screen. Why is this? Why is it so slow to run every time I install a new version? What is causing the delay? And what is it doing for all that 40 seconds time? Thank you.

40sec is awfully slow. It's not something that PhpED would normally do. On a rather old h/w running Intel 3rd gen Ivy Bridge and SATA SSD -- startup time is about 5sec and does not depend on build number at all because it initializes the same components.
I can only suggest to check your system for consistency. May be its AV is outdated and too active, may be HDD is going to die, hard to say without seeing your PC metrics, but for sure 40sec is too much.