PE23 won't load files

Hi, gang. My Photoshop Elements 2023 program stopped working last night (Sat 07/01). The editor would come up and allow me to make a menu choice but wouldn't load any file I chose. And then when I tried to close the window it took several seconds to do so.

I have uninstalled the program (the original settings were saved), rebooted and reinstalled it but it's behaving the same way. Should I try another uninstall/reinstall or is something else at work here? HELP! And thanks.

Mike!