This just happened to me today, too, and for Elements 6 (and 4 and Paint Shop Pro and almost all my other editing and painting programs.) I looked in the Events Log and found out that there's a problem with the pentablet.dll I've sent messages out to the computer and to the Elements groups I belong to but haven't heard back yet. A couple of other people had Elements suddenly stop working, too.
To see the Events Log: First, click the Elements icon to open Elements so there will be an error event to read. After closing the Elements has stopped working message, wait a minute, then Start>Control Panel and click on Classic View (in the left margin) if it's not in Classic View already. Click on Administrative Tools. Click on Event Viewer. (The Vista "warning" pop up will appear, click "Continue" or "Allow") In the Event Viewer window, left margin, click the + to open Custom Views then click on Administrative Events. The first red circle with exclamation point should be the application event for Elements. Double click on this for additional info. You should see Photoshop Elements in the first line with information (code) about it and its location then you should see "faulting module". This is where the problem is.
If possible, copy the information and contact Adobe Support.
Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know what your problem is, too. Click my icon to email me, please. With more than the usual number of Elements users having problems launching the program something seems to be going on. (btw, I use McAfee anti-virus. Last week, an Avast anti-virus update disabled a bunch of programs including Adobe products.)
