Perform Mode questions

Hi! I’ve been using TD for 4 months now and I still have some newby questions regarding the perform Mode. In my proyects right now I open them up in design mode and then press the perform mode icon. My question is:
does the performance inprove if I start the project directly in PM?

Second question … Recently during a performance with 2 projectors and the control window in my laptop, I pressed the ESC key accidentaly so the control window dissapeared from my laptop. The projectors were still there, but no control options. I had to press ESC key again to leave PM and then from Design Mode hit the PM key to go back. That caused the images to be lost for a second … So, is there a way to recover the control screen without going back to Design Mode?

And last one … Is there a way to keep the external perform windows running in case you need to go for a second to Design Mode to adjust something? Let’s say you need to press the reload button from a vídeo and you don’t have assigned that specific option in your control pannel …

Thanks a los!!