Hi @john_barr, There is no obvious setting AFAIK to disable VTS scans when SF launches. You can though remove the default and alternate VST scan folder paths in "Options> Preferences> VST effects". However.. this disables the VSTs, which would be OK if you do not use them. A better solution is to add /NOVSTGROVEL to the SF shortcut's taget. The VST grovel file loads, so the current VSTs remain available, but SF will not scan for new VSTs. This can be reversed by removing the /NOVSTGROVEL, or create another shortcut with just the application path. For instance for Sound Forge Pro-15 on my PC, the shortcut target is: "C:\Program Files\SOUND FORGE\SOUND FORGE Pro 15.0\Forge150.exe" /NOVSTGROVEL (note: there must be a space after the path unquote).
@john_barr One different alternative is to get a plugin that can load other plugins. For example, you could use Blue Cat's PatchWork or DDMF Metaplugin. Just put only these plugins on the plugin path and from now on Sound Forge will only need to scan for one plugin. Then you can load all your other plugins through PatchWork or Metaplugin.