Photoshop Elements :: Icon Highlight Disappears

Today I purchased Photoshop Elements 12, went through the installation process, and it should be ready to begin editing.  However, whenever I attempt to open Photoshop, nothing happens.  My OS is Windows 7; I click the icon onmy taskbar, and the cursor shows that it is loading, the icon is highlighted, but then the loading symbol stops and the icon highlight disappears.  When I attempt to open a file using PSE, the loading banner appears, but shortly thereafter, I receive an alert saying "Photoshop Elements 12 Editorhas stopped working" and under it, it says "A problem caused the program to stop working correctly.  Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available" and the only available option it "Close program."  I had this exact issue with PSE 7, and figured that purchasing an updated version might fix this problem.   Evidently, I was mistaken.  This is a very serious issue, as I am a graphic designer (creating logos, posters, programs, etc) and use Photoshop for this purpose.  I have been using Elements for years, but only recently has this problem arisen. This is, of course, infuriating, as I have paid $70 for a program that doesn't even work.