Moved this discussion to PSE forum.

Check your Task Manager to see if Photoshop Elements is still running in the background (is not closing down correctly). If it's there, try ending the task and then relaunch.

If this is happening there are a couple possibilities for why it could be happening. One is that the preference settings are trying to save and something is preventing that, such as user permissions. Or another application running in the background could be holding on to it, such as security software scanning it.

The first thing to try would be to right-click the executable file and choose "Run as Administrator".

Next, try a new user account.

Third, try disabling background applications.

If it's leaving a zombie process, that's not part of the application's programming. It certainly never happens on my computer. Plus, the Welcome screen itself is a separate executable, even if it is itself left open, this will not prevent the Editor or Organizer from launching.

However, if we are encountering an issue here with permissions, it could be a result of launching the Editor/Organizer (by the way is it one, the other, or both?) because the system, for whatever reason, requires hightened permissions that are not granted when one application launches another.

But the OP does mention that even launching from the executable, not just the desktop shortcut, exhibits the same behavior.

You're right, it should work just fine in a Standard user account. However, not all Standard user accounts are created equal. The "Standard" label just means that user account is part the Standard group. What defines Standard from one computer to another can be changed. Some may have more restrictive permissions than others. For me, when I created a Windows 7 64-bit Standard user account, I did not run into this issue. I launched the Welcome Screen from the desktop shortcut, launched Editor, closed it, and then relaunched it from the Welcome Screen. No problem. Did the samething again for the Organizer. Launches multiple times without problem. Permissions could be the source of this issue, or simply background processes, but it's not part of the program itself that causes this phantom/zombie/ghost application to run in the background. I've heard reports of this, some say it's the Editor only, others the Organizer only, very rarely has it been both. I've also seen it with other Adobe applications, and with non-Adobe applications. In most scenarios, the problem is background applications. The only reason I suggest a permissions issue is when bypassing the Welcome Screen becomes a solution.

Most software runs without Admin-level access, Photoshop Elements included.

Which brings up the question for the OP: Are you working in a Standard account, an Administrator, or something else?

Just so we're all on the same page here Grizzuare, you open up Photoshop Elements once and it works fine, but you close and attempt to reopen and it does not, unless you restart your computer or log out of and back into your user account?