Photo Gallery stopped working suddenly and more often.

I have a chronic problem with Windows Photo Gallery.  If I am EVER able to open the "Gallery" and get to working...it remains accessible for a while.  Then, invariably, it disappears.  Should I want to download pictures from my "camera card,"  I have to spend an hour trying to find and access the program.  Sometimes successfully....sometimes not.  Is there any way that I can simply find and open the program when I want to use it?  It would really be cool to be able just to have an icon to "click on" and use the program!

Thanks!