The problem was infuriating and day-ruining but it was resolved by Intuit support.

I lucked out and landed Ashlee on the phone when I called 800 434-6818. She is A+++++++.

The solution was to download the software again. But she walked me through the whole thing (actually, she watched me do what she was telling me to do via Glance). Fifteen minutes later the clouds parted and all was well again.

What caused the problem? Maybe a "miscommunication" between a Microsoft update and my Parallels app (on my MacBook Pro). Not sure. But it's fixed.

If you call support and land a dud support person (I have had that misfortune before), ask for a "Tier 3" person. That's what Ashlee is.