Try this: Select yes and open it, save it to your normal folder, not the same temp folder. You can delete that pds file later.

I am currently using PowerDirector 18 and was able to solve this error - It turns out that in Settings under the Project tab there is the Auto Save directory that was a different folder location than where the temp files were being stored. So, deleting the temp files wasn't deleting the file that was being called at the program startup.

The AutoSave directory was pointing to:
C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\CyberLink\PowerDirector\16.0\Cache\AutoSave

So I went into that folder, deleted all the files and now PowerDirector starts without a problem.

Hey MJC - that did the trick! Thank you.

To add on to your instruction, here's what I did to update where my auto saves now go:

Whenever I upgrade to the newest version, I need to change the auto save directory to the newest version’s AutoSave folder. To do this:

1) Click the gear icon (It says “Set user preferences” when you hover over it) at the top of PowerDirector's screen.
2) Click “Project” in the menu immediately on your left.
3) In the Project window that opens on the right - there is a field that shows where the project is set to auto save. Click “Browse” to the right of that field and navigate to the AutoSave directory of the newest version of PowerDirector.
4) Click “OK”.

Here is the path to my current AutoSave directory. (Your's may be slightly different):
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\CyberLink\PowerDirector\19.0\Cache\AutoSave