Apple apps quit and won't reopen

Question

Hello people.
I've been having this issue since upgrading to Yosemite. Basically the MBP (2010 i7 quad) will work fine, then an apple app will quit and wipe all the apple apps out - Safari, Mail, Message & Facetime, App Store, About this Mac, Reminders, Contacts & Maps (iTunes and iPhoto, Notes are fine) and then they won't reopen.
I think Mail is more likely to be the issue as I seem to hang then quit, if I have Safari open it will be fine until it either quits or I shutdown / restart then its dead.
It used to happen once in while, but now its a lot more regular (almost every other day).
I've tried everything I know. PRAM, Plist, fonts, apps, etc etc and the only way to get the apps back was to re-install OSX 10.
This weekend I wiped the machine and did a fresh install of OSX, then today gradually put the backed up content back too. Even upgrading to CC from CS6 to eliminate that possible issue.
Then... Yup, Mail quit and thats that - I have to re-install OSX.
What on earth can I do to resolve this apart from re installing OSX everyday?

Answer 1

You likely ran a defective third-party "utility" such as "CleanMyMac" or "MacCleanse" that purports to "clean up" "junk" files. What it really does is to corrupt the operating system and many applications.   
The first thing you need to do is remove that software according to the developer's instructions. Never install it, or anything like it, again. Then see below. If you use any iWork applications, you may need to delete them and redownload them from the App Store.
If you don't already have a current backup, back up all data, then reinstall the OS.* You don't need to erase the startup volume, and you won't need the backup unless something goes wrong. If the system was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you may need the Apple ID and password you used.
There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.
If you installed the Java runtime distributed by Apple and still need it, you'll have to reinstall it. The same goes for Xcode. All other data will be preserved.
*The linked support article refers to OS X 10.10 ("Yosemite"), but the procedure is the same for OS X 10.7 ("Lion") and later.