file_get_contents problems

[ebohatch]

I recently upgraded my system to Windows 8 64 and Xampp 1.8.2 from Windows 7 32 and Xampp 1.7.7
I have a component for Joomla. On a new install the process will copy files (images and icons) using file_get_contents($url_of_file) to the resulting website with file_put_contents.
When I am installing it on my desktop it will take an hour to complete the copy process (I can watch the receiving image folder very slowly fill up).
When I run the same install on a website (www.something.com) it only takes about 10 minutes to complete the process.
When I had Xampp 1.7.7 it didn't have this delay.

Any ides on how to track the cause??