Mike Collard,
A Make Table Query (SELECT INTO <new-table-name> FROM <expression>)
actually creates a new table, Access must issue physical I/Os, bytes are
written to disk, etc.
A Select Query just goes out to where data already is on disk, grabs it,
and then displays it on screen.
The Write-type operations of Make Table Query between the CPU and disk
always take a lot longer than Read-type operations.
Note, though, that depending on exactly what is going on, a complicated
Select Query can take longer than a simple Make Table Query. (Factors such
as table size, using correlated subquerries, etc.)
As for speeding up a Make Table Query, that's tougher to answer.
Can you open your query in SQL view, and copy and paste the code here?
Sincerely,
Chris