Abstract: A Menu Building Component (MBC) builds menus during a computer's idle time. The MBC builds a menu for each menu title on a Menu Bar and stores each built menu in the computer's random access memory (RAM). The MBC requests an allocation of idle time by registering with a Component Manager. The Component Manager notifies the MBC of the availability of idle time by sending a notification signal to the MBC. When the MBC receives the notification signal, the MBC builds the next unbuilt menu corresponding to a menu title on the Menu Bar. When the last menu has been built, the MBC unregisters with the component manager. If a user makes a menu demand for an unbuilt menu, the MBC will build the demanded menu on demand, rather than during an idle time. If the user makes a menu demand for a built menu, the built menu is recalled from RAM and displayed for use by the user. Because the MBC builds menus during idle times, start-up delays and menu demand delays are minimized.