My Paint Tools and Effect Tools don't work

Newbie here on the forums but not to Corel. I've used Corel Draw and PP since the 80s, starting with Corel 3. Loved that program.

My situation is complicated. I had a laptop totally die and with it my Corel programs. It was 12 with Draw and PhotoPaint. We were also in the middle of moving twice and at this point I don't know if I even have the original materials. I was able to get an old disc to load on this new computer and almost all of my old files are intact.

Now my problem is I can't use the paint tools or the effect tools, like smudge, etc. to work. I finally got the eraser to work and the mask tools are fine. I can use the paint fill, but weirdly it would only erase some of the objects, not the whole background.

I really need the photo paint tools to touch up my ceramic art photos for my online shop.

Thanks in advance for any possible help. At this point, I'm just so glad I have what I have.

Jill