PSE doesn't start: no splashscreen. Maybe license related?

[ShelLuser]

Hi gang!

Context: I'm running a fully up to date version of Windows 10 (2004). At first I bought Photoshop Elements 2020 through the Microsoft store and because I enjoyed working with the software so much I eventually upgraded to the full "Elements Suite 2021": I applied for an upgrade of Photoshop Elements and also bought a license for Premiere Elements. I've ran both versions together for a while but last week I de-installed PSE 2020.

For reasons I fail to understand Photoshop Elements ("PSE") (nor Premiere Elements ("PE")) will start. After I click the icon nothing seems to happen; the splashscreen which should give me access to the Organizer and both PSE & PE doesn't appear. Checking Windows 10 task manager shows the process ("Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021") being active and gobbling up around 20% CPU resources but that's it. We can rule out Internet connectivity issues and such because there aren't any.

I've already tried to move my preferences out of the way by renaming '%APPDATA%\Adobe\Photoshop Elements' to 'Photoshop Elements.bck' but this does not result in the creation of a new data folder which makes me convinced that we haven't reached this stage yet.

The only thing which changed between last week and now (besides the upgrade of some audio software such as Vocaloid) is me installing Photoshop Elements 2020 through the MS store on my laptop which I sporadically use from another location. I decided to do this after I read that you're allowed to have a copy of PSE installed on 2 machines as long as you're not using them at the same time. Considering the fact that I am allowed to run both PSE 2020 & 2021 side by side on my main computer I concluded that it shouldn't be a problem if I installed 2020 on my laptop since I had it removed from my main PC. Needless to say: both programs are never used at the same time.

Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong here?  At first I assumed that an automated update migh be going on but no matter how long I wait nothing happens.

[Greg_S. · Accepted solution]

Are you having the same problem with both of your computers? 

By splash screen, do you mean the welcome screen that gives access to each programs icons?

Does the problem exist for each of the three programs?

What happens if you double click on the PhotoshopElementsEditor.exe file (in the following directory - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 2021\)?

Has 2021 ever opened for you?  If you have tried to open the Organizer, did you accept the opportunity to convert your existing 2020 catalog?  Did the catalog complete conversion?

Try holding down the Shift key and double-clicking on the PhotoshopElementsOrganizer.exe file in the C:\Program Files\Adobe\Elements 2021 Organizer folder.  This will open the catalog manager.  Create a new catalog and see if the Organizer will open it.

If the problem is with either the PSE or PRE editors, the problem could be with the licensing screen.  Sometimes it is hidden by the main window.  Alt-tab to see if the licensing screen shows up.  There is no licensing screen for the Organizer, but you will be asked to sign in to your account in order to open the program.

Will await your responses before suggesting other trouble-shooting scenarios.

[ShelLuser]

First: thanks for the quick reply Greg, appreciate it!

Yes, I meant the welcome screen which doesn't show, and this problem exists for all programs (Photoshop & Premiere). PSE 2021 has worked normally for me, which is also why I eventually de-installed PSE 2020. We can rule out library issues because after I had a few problems with the conversion process I decided to start from scratch with 2021.

Good idea with regards to that executable! I didn't think of that yet. Unfortunately when I start "PhotoshopElementsEditor.exe" then its splashscreen shows (the real one) and then nothing. Checking the task manager shows the process as not responding while also gobbling up around 20% CPU power. However, when I try the same with "PremiereElementsEditor.exe" and "PhotoshopElementsOrganizer.exe" then these start & behaves normally. So it's only Photoshop which is giving me issues.

So I went back to resetting my configuration (%APPDATA%\Adobe\Photoshop Elements) and that doesn't do anything for me. It does create a new default configuration for me but the process still stalls eventually.

Right now I can only think of 2 possibilities: licensing issues or a corrupt exectuable. Anti virus logs show nothing (I'm using the default suite which is combined with Windows 10) but I'm going to try and re-install PSE 2021 to rule out possible corruption.

[ShelLuser]

Update

So I re-installed PSE 2021 and now everything is back to normal. For the record: I blame Murphy for all this because last week I wrote a blog post on Wordpress about how re-installing software is useless most of the time; it won't solve issues with your configuration, yet here we are...

I'm still not fully satisfied and will be checking my event logs later today. Because now I want to find the cause for all this.

Either way, thanks again for your help!