Mame 145 and MaLa and Cpwizard - reoccurring issue

[potts43]

 

I know this issue has raised it's head several times but I've yet to find a solution.
I'm running WinXPSP2 with the latest versions of every piece of software.

If I launch Mame from Mala it runs fine. I Pause the game and then use Show Layout in CPWIZARD which is running minimized and after about 20 seconds it loads up and works fine.
When I EXIT MAME and go back to MALA I can see my MaLA layout without entries...like just seeing the background graphic. (This doesn't happen If I haven't used CPWIZARD on a MAME game.) If I press the menu key twice(in MALA) it refocuses Mala and all is well. The delay only happens using Mala to Launch Mame. It's not there if I launch MAMEUI and then CPWIZARD.
This is problematic for strangers to the cabinet. I can get around the focus thing with sending two key presses to MALA using AUTOHOTKEY I think but why only through MALA does it take so long to open up CPWIZARD?
It is definitely a combination of all 3 pieces of software. I have also found that Mala messes the layouts up when exiting emulators if the screen resolution is different from that of Mala.

Any one solved any of these issues? Help REALLY Appreciated. I've spent weeks trying to sort this out!

thanks

JAse