diff --git a/config templates/config/umbracoSettings.config b/config templates/config/umbracoSettings.config
index 659355b4dd..7939ac1b70 100644
--- a/config templates/config/umbracoSettings.config	
+++ b/config templates/config/umbracoSettings.config	
@@ -68,6 +68,11 @@
         <!-- Cache cycle of Media and Member data fetched from the umbraco.library methods -->
         <!-- In seconds. 0 will disable cache -->
         <UmbracoLibraryCacheDuration>1800</UmbracoLibraryCacheDuration>
+
+        <!-- Url Resolving ensures that all links works if you run Umbraco in virtual directories -->
+        <!-- Setting this to false can increase render time for pages with a large number of links -->
+        <!-- If running Umbraco in virtual directory this *must* be set to true! -->
+        <ResolveUrlsFromTextString>true</ResolveUrlsFromTextString>
     </content>
 
     <requestHandler>
diff --git a/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/IOHelper.cs b/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/IOHelper.cs
index 45e185dbc4..1ff13ee642 100644
--- a/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/IOHelper.cs
+++ b/umbraco/businesslogic/IO/IOHelper.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 using System.IO;
@@ -14,6 +15,8 @@ namespace umbraco.IO
     public static class IOHelper
     {
         private static string m_rootDir = "";
+        // static compiled regex for faster performance
+        private readonly static Regex _resolveUrlPattern = new Regex("(=[\"\']?)(\\W?\\~(?:.(?![\"\']?\\s+(?:\\S+)=|[>\"\']))+.)[\"\']?", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.IgnorePatternWhitespace);
 
         public static char DirSepChar
         {
@@ -46,31 +49,47 @@ namespace umbraco.IO
                 return VirtualPathUtility.ToAbsolute(virtualPath, SystemDirectories.Root);
         }
 
+
         public static string ResolveUrlsFromTextString(string text)
         {
-            // find all relative urls (ie. urls that contain ~)
-//            string pattern = "(\\S+)=[\"']?(\\W?\\~(?:.(?![\"']?\\s+(?:\\S+)=|[>\"']))+.)[\"']?";
-            string pattern = "<.*?\\\"(\\~.*?)\\\"";   
-            MatchCollection tags =
-                Regex.Matches(text, pattern, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.IgnorePatternWhitespace);
-            foreach (Match tag in tags)
+            if (UmbracoSettings.ResolveUrlsFromTextString)
             {
-                string url = "";
-                if (tag.Groups[1].Success)
-                    url = tag.Groups[1].Value;
+                Stopwatch sw = new Stopwatch();
+                sw.Start();
+                Debug.WriteLine("Start: " + sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
 
-                // The richtext editor inserts a slash in front of the url. That's why we need this little fix
-//                if (url.StartsWith("/"))
-//                    text = text.Replace(url, ResolveUrl(url.Substring(1)));
-//                else
-                if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(url))
+                // find all relative urls (ie. urls that contain ~)
+                MatchCollection tags =
+                    _resolveUrlPattern.Matches(text);
+                Debug.WriteLine("After regex: " + sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
+                foreach (Match tag in tags)
                 {
-                    string resolvedUrl = (url.Substring(0,1) == "/") ? ResolveUrl(url.Substring(1)) : ResolveUrl(url);
-                    text = text.Replace(url, resolvedUrl);
+                    Debug.WriteLine("-- inside regex: " + sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
+                    string url = "";
+                    if (tag.Groups[1].Success)
+                        url = tag.Groups[1].Value;
+
+                    // The richtext editor inserts a slash in front of the url. That's why we need this little fix
+                    //                if (url.StartsWith("/"))
+                    //                    text = text.Replace(url, ResolveUrl(url.Substring(1)));
+                    //                else
+                    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(url))
+                    {
+                        Debug.WriteLine("---- before resolve: " + sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
+                        string resolvedUrl = (url.Substring(0, 1) == "/") ? ResolveUrl(url.Substring(1)) : ResolveUrl(url);
+                        Debug.WriteLine("---- after resolve: " + sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
+                        Debug.WriteLine("---- before replace: " + sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
+                        text = text.Replace(url, resolvedUrl);
+                        Debug.WriteLine("---- after replace: " + sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
+                    }
+
                 }
 
-            }
+                Debug.WriteLine("total: " + sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
+                sw.Stop();
+                System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Trace.Write("Resolve Urls", sw.ElapsedMilliseconds.ToString());
 
+            }
             return text;
         }
 
@@ -154,7 +173,7 @@ namespace umbraco.IO
                 throw new FileSecurityException(String.Format("The extension for the current file '{0}' is not of an allowed type for this editor. This is typically controlled from either the installed MacroEngines or based on configuration in /config/umbracoSettings.config", filePath.Replace(MapPath(SystemDirectories.Root), "")));
 
             return true;
-        } 
+        }
 
 
         /// <summary>
diff --git a/umbraco/businesslogic/UmbracoSettings.cs b/umbraco/businesslogic/UmbracoSettings.cs
index 895f084d6e..d9f8d0be75 100644
--- a/umbraco/businesslogic/UmbracoSettings.cs
+++ b/umbraco/businesslogic/UmbracoSettings.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Web;
 using System.Web.Caching;
@@ -13,7 +14,6 @@ namespace umbraco
     /// </summary>
     public class UmbracoSettings
     {
-        // TODO: Remove for launch
         public const string TEMP_FRIENDLY_XML_CHILD_CONTAINER_NODENAME = ""; // "children";
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -928,6 +928,34 @@ namespace umbraco
             }
         }
 
+        private static bool? _resolveUrlsFromTextString;
+        public static bool ResolveUrlsFromTextString
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                if (_resolveUrlsFromTextString == null)
+                {
+                    try
+                    {
+                        bool enableDictionaryFallBack;
+                        var value = GetKey("/settings/content/ResolveUrlsFromTextString");
+                        if (value != null)
+                            if (bool.TryParse(value, out enableDictionaryFallBack))
+                                _resolveUrlsFromTextString = enableDictionaryFallBack;
+                    }
+                    catch (Exception ex)
+                    {
+                        Trace.WriteLine("Could not load /settings/content/ResolveUrlsFromTextString from umbracosettings.config:\r\n {0}",
+                                ex.Message);
+                        
+                        // set url resolving to true (default (legacy) behavior) to ensure we don't keep writing to trace
+                        _resolveUrlsFromTextString = true;
+                    }
+                }
+                return _resolveUrlsFromTextString == true;
+            }
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Configuration regarding webservices
         /// </summary>