It's a kind of update for the discussion ITMS 7.6 HF7 to 8.0 upgrade time
The one reason for the long ITMS upgrade time might be the running Workflow "Task Tray tool" application. So, if you are going to perform an upgrade or HF install and see "little green man" icon in the tray-bar -- it would be good to close it before the upgrade (and close all other running workflow applications, if any).
HTH,
Alex.