Legit Photoshop CS5 key no longer working

[YellowJersey]

So I bought a copy of Photoshop CS5 using a student discount back in 2011. After I derped and had to reinstall Windows 7 on my machine, I'm now getting ah "Your key isn't valid" message when I installed CS5. I even have the product registered with Adobe and I can see it and the key when I log into my Adobe account. Anyone else experiencing this? I'm going to have to call Adobe on Monday about this. Please don't tell me the only legit way forward is to get Photoshop CC...

[SupaKomputa]

Maybe you have to reset the installation information in adobe server.

If you're a legit owner of the key with proof, i think adobe will fix this, or give you a new key if the latter don't work.

[YellowJersey]

23 hours ago, SupaKomputa said:

Maybe you have to reset the installation information in adobe server.

If you're a legit owner of the key with proof, i think adobe will fix this, or give you a new key if the latter don't work.

Probably. I'll have to call them on Monday. It's so frustrating when you discover something like this on a Friday evening just after everything is closed.

[Franck]

I think they closed all license server prior to CS6 a year ago ? I got a new computer last August and i couldn't install my license of CS6.

I had found somewhere on the web a tutorial showing how to work around licensing server when they are down. It apparently happened in the past and it would be to force people to upgrade to the subscription model. Last time i installed my CS6 was in 2013-2014 and the license worked fine.

 

Once you managed to go around the license server to install everything seems ok but the software still doesn't work you are supposed to get the popup to retry activating the licence which does not happen on my end. I might actually just forget about it a go buy again a new license.

 

I feel adobe take us for cash cows

[YellowJersey]

4 hours ago, Franck said:

I think they closed all license server prior to CS6 a year ago ? I got a new computer last August and i couldn't install my license of CS6.

I had found somewhere on the web a tutorial showing how to work around licensing server when they are down. It apparently happened in the past and it would be to force people to upgrade to the subscription model. Last time i installed my CS6 was in 2013-2014 and the license worked fine.

 

Once you managed to go around the license server to install everything seems ok but the software still doesn't work you are supposed to get the popup to retry activating the licence which does not happen on my end. I might actually just forget about it a go buy again a new license.

 

I feel adobe take us for cash cows

I called them today and they basically said "F you."  You wouldn't happen to have that tutorial handy, would you?

[Franck]

14 minutes ago, YellowJersey said:

I called them today and they basically said "F you."  You wouldn't happen to have that tutorial handy, would you?

I can check tonight. Still it doesn't work yet on my end. I could only install it. It doesn't open when i start the process. I see the exe popup in the task manager for a second then it dies. I had hope that by adding my unlucky experience it might help finding someone that know how to fix this. I recall my searches pretty much summarized the answer adobe gave you by phone.

[YellowJersey]

8 minutes ago, Franck said:

I can check tonight. Still it doesn't work yet on my end. I could only install it. It doesn't open when i start the process. I see the exe popup in the task manager for a second then it dies. I had hope that by adding my unlucky experience it might help finding someone that know how to fix this. I recall my searches pretty much summarized the answer adobe gave you by phone.

I feel you, mate. I just bought Affinity Photo on a cyber Monday deal (30% off), so I'm going to give that a go. I don't want to be dependent on Photoshop any more, I don't want to give adobe money after this buggering, and I'd rather give my dollars to someone else.

 Photoshop CC isn't a bad deal for people who use photoshop on a daily or weekly basis. But for people like me who use it inconsistently, maybe a once every two months, it's not even remotely worth it.

[Franck]

6 minutes ago, YellowJersey said:

I feel you, mate. I just bought Affinity Photo on a cyber Monday deal (30% off), so I'm going to give that a go. I don't want to be dependent on Photoshop any more, I don't want to give adobe money after this buggering, and I'd rather give my dollars to someone else.

 Photoshop CC isn't a bad deal for people who use photoshop on a daily or weekly basis. But for people like me who use it inconsistently, maybe a once every two months, it's not even remotely worth it.

same here. I can use it for a week straight then not touch it for 2-3 months easy. Subscription is not appealing at all.

[justpoet]

You own your CS version.  There is an offline activation method, which is what you need to do.  The SN will get you the install, but not the activation.  Go offline when you do the install and first run (pull the ethernet or turn off wifi).  Then you can select that you're not online and want to activate by phone.  It will give you a code to call adobe with, and then they can give you a response code that will do the activation.  If they're not doing that anymore either, then they definitely won't ever get any more of my money, EVER.

[YellowJersey]

6 hours ago, justpoet said:

You own your CS version.  There is an offline activation method, which is what you need to do.  The SN will get you the install, but not the activation.  Go offline when you do the install and first run (pull the ethernet or turn off wifi).  Then you can select that you're not online and want to activate by phone.  It will give you a code to call adobe with, and then they can give you a response code that will do the activation.  If they're not doing that anymore either, then they definitely won't ever get any more of my money, EVER.

Thanks for the tip. I doubt it'll work, but I'll give it a try. The guy I spoke with at adobe was quite insistent that my serial number was not genuine, despite the fact that I've used my copy for 7 years without issue. He tried to blame it on the reseller who sold me my copy (which was my university) saying that they sold me a non-genuine key and then tried to give me 2 months of CC free.

[YellowJersey]

UPDATE:

 Still no luck with photoshop, but I am having luck with Affinity Photo. I rely heavily on the Nik plugin ColourEffects Pro for my photo editing and, after a brief tutorial, I've now got it and my other Nik photoshop plugins working on Affinity Photo. Now all I have to do is get used to Affinity's UI and figure out how to align and stack images and I'll have no need for photoshop at all.

(I paid $120(ish) for the Nik suite back when it was owned by Google... only for Google to make them available for free a few months later... ouch)

[Franck]

13 hours ago, justpoet said:

You own your CS version.  There is an offline activation method, which is what you need to do.  The SN will get you the install, but not the activation.  Go offline when you do the install and first run (pull the ethernet or turn off wifi).  Then you can select that you're not online and want to activate by phone.  It will give you a code to call adobe with, and then they can give you a response code that will do the activation.  If they're not doing that anymore either, then they definitely won't ever get any more of my money, EVER.

this sound like what i did to install on my side. but the phone number there was no option for CS, only 2016+