Unable to open photoshop elements 2018 or premiere elements 2018?

Have a windows 7 Lenovo T430 laptop with plenty of resources of all kinds, fully updated - windows, drivers, etc

Over 4 years experience using elements products (photoshop and premiere) - and all the scars learning the sequences to avoid most crashes.

Started a new project after 6 months of not using the products, found Photoshop Elements 11 still working fine, Premiere Elements 11 refused to open - after multiple restart in every combination of holding shift key, direct from exe, starting in safe mode, and what seemed like endless uninstalling/reinstalling . Used CC Cleaner and worked thru at least 20 forum discussions. Was surprised how many "fail to open" discussions, some going back 4 years or more, remain unanswered. Tried most things but refused to mess with Registry stuff.

Gave up, uninstalled both "11" family products, purchased Elements 2018 family and installed with serial numbers.

Now, neither program with start - Organizer splash screen crashes at "loading Media Core components"

Will call the chat guys in the morning but figure this must be a common problem - not being addressed?

all help/insight appreciated

[title edited by mod]