If the address of a non-existent computer is specified in the registry as the server location, the Verification Station may hang at startup. To prevent this, in the registry remove the following values:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ABBYY\RecognitionServer\2.0\DefaultServerLocation\\ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ABBYY\RecognitionServer\2.0\VerificatonStation\ServerLocation
Then restart the Verification Station.