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peterg46518503
peterg46518503
Participant
February 27, 2016
Answered

Acrobat XI cannot reach activation server after update

  • February 27, 2016
  • 1 reply
  • 1339 views

Bought Acrobat XI a few weeks ago for my wife (it is the version she needed).  Did a clean install on a new machine and activated properly, no problem.  It has worked exactly as it should.

Tonight she did something really horrible, she accepted to do an update.  At the end it failed, unable to reach the Adobe server to activate.

Troubleshooting, it seems that it cannot reach the Adobe server.  I tried on my machine and I couldn't reach it either; it is refusing connections.

Was this intentional, a way of killing older versions of Acrobat?  She can't use the newest one, it must be XI pro.  Does the server still exist?

Does anyone know a workaround which will restore Acrobat XI on her machine?  Should I delete it all and reinstall from the original CD?  And tell her to NEVER EVER accept "updates"?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer peterg46518503

I have discovered the problem.

I am the victim of a fraud, the software I purchased is fake. It was somewhat

elaborate in that the installation process creates a hosts file which blocked

all access to any Adobe authentication server address. Apparently the fake

serial number fooled the program itself but it can't validate at Adobe. When my

wife did the update, for some reason it tried to validate again and that's when

it failed. I do not know if it would have continued to work if she hadn't done

the upgrade, but I always discourage any updates as so many end up breaking

something. Yes, I know about the security implications, but I have had two

orders of magnitude more broken systems due to updates than security problems so

will take my chances.

Now I'm out the money I spent, but since (for compatibility reasons) my wife

needs XI pro, which isn't sold by Adobe any more, I'm kind of out of luck. I

don't want a hacked version but it seems online sales, at least on ebay, can't

be trusted. Techsoft24 in London seems legit and I may try them unless someone

can suggest a better way to buy a known legitimate Acrobat XI Pro package.

Peter

1 reply

Meenakshi Negi
Community Manager
Meenakshi NegiCommunity Manager
Community Manager
February 27, 2016

Hi peterg46518503,

What is the dot version of Acrobat you were using?

Let us know the OS installed on your system.

Please share the exact error message you get.

Regards,

Meenakshi

peterg46518503
peterg46518503AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
February 27, 2016

I have discovered the problem.

I am the victim of a fraud, the software I purchased is fake. It was somewhat

elaborate in that the installation process creates a hosts file which blocked

all access to any Adobe authentication server address. Apparently the fake

serial number fooled the program itself but it can't validate at Adobe. When my

wife did the update, for some reason it tried to validate again and that's when

it failed. I do not know if it would have continued to work if she hadn't done

the upgrade, but I always discourage any updates as so many end up breaking

something. Yes, I know about the security implications, but I have had two

orders of magnitude more broken systems due to updates than security problems so

will take my chances.

Now I'm out the money I spent, but since (for compatibility reasons) my wife

needs XI pro, which isn't sold by Adobe any more, I'm kind of out of luck. I

don't want a hacked version but it seems online sales, at least on ebay, can't

be trusted. Techsoft24 in London seems legit and I may try them unless someone

can suggest a better way to buy a known legitimate Acrobat XI Pro package.

Peter

D
dougm11540349
Participant
November 30, 2016

Hi Peter,

Did you end up using Techsoft24?  If yes, were they a legitimate seller?

Thanks!

Doug

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