As a programmer, it frustrates me to see programs that only show <b>one</b> progress bar, and then the progress bar freezes for a good length of time. Clearly the thing that is freezing it deserves some sort of either extra progress bar or to increment the progress bar itself. All the user wants is feedback that something is happening, like you said, and that's NOT THAT COMPLICATED, it doesn't need to be a 20-day expedition on how to implement a progress bar - an hour at most and you've got yourself user feedback. Even some simple text.