Error 16 + No Serial Numbers + Not registered with Adobe - HOWEVER programs still on Apple Mac.

Question

Hi there,I’m just wondering if anyone can assist or can offer advice as to where to look.Apologies in advance if this is a long read.I’ve been working on my hobby website, on and off since 2014, using Dreamweaver & Photoshop CS6, which I’m aware are old school nowadays.My problems began last December, 2022, after I had upgraded from High Sierra to Mojave, the upgrade was to enable some other app which required a higher OS than High Sierra. I had previously googled as to whether CS6 was compatible with Mojave and the first answer I found unfortunately said it was - I have since discovered they are not compatible.The problem I encountered was that although I could still access and use Dreamweaver I could no longer upload the updated page files to my server.I then purchased a 2 TB SSD to back up everything as I had read that one option was to “downgrade” to High Sierra.Many issues followed as I soon encountered problems such as being told that there was already a newer OS installed. I eventually went back to Mavericks (Internet Recovery Re-Boot) which my Mac shipped with. Over the next extremely stressful few days - including my mac showing what looked like a white “No Entry Sign” - I have somehow managed to stumble my way to having High Sierra as my OS and The Machine back ups to before Mavericks, when I was running Mojave.I’ve used Time Machine to restore the Adobe CS6 products but I now have come up against Error 16. CONFIGURATION ERRORPlease uninstall and reinstall the product.If this problem still occurs, please contact Adobe technical support for help, and mention the error code shown at the bottom of this screen.Error: 16http://www.adobe.com/support/ The problem now escalates somewhat as whilst I purchased the proper packaged printed disks with serial numbers and licence etc., from memory for something in the £800 to £1,000 mark from a retailer I cannot now recall, I also failed to register with Adobe, yep I know, big  .  .  Doh!I still have the boxes and disks.Having googled extensively I now appreciate I am in something of a pickle to put it mildly.I am encountering Error 16 which states I should uninstall/re-install but without the Serial Numbers this I cannot do.There appears to be a few different apps available that claim to be able to locate the serial numbers from within the mac. This is a genuine and honest enquiry regarding having legitimately purchased the items so they were input to my Mac at some point, most likely circa 2014.Does anyone know if these supposed “key finders” actually work ?https://mac-product-key-finder.com/They seem to cost about $29 which from where I am would be something of a bargain.Any assistance and/or suggestions gratefully received.Many thanks.Kind regards, Garry.

Garry Maclean · Accepted Answer

once the installer recognizes your offline and supplies the "request code", leave the installation pending and go back online. that's all we need from the installer while offline. from then on, you can connect and stay connected.

if you're sure the discs were the ones used on the previous installation with the recovered passwords, you can reuse those discs. but what will have changed from your previous offline attempts? ie, there's no reason to use the same installation file and same password and same offline activation and expect a different result.

so again, did the keyfinder recovered passwords match what you used previously?

Just regarding that last part kglad, as to whether the keyfinder recovered passwords matched what I had used previously. I hadn't used any passwords since the original installations in 2014. I've no idea whether they match the ones from back then but am presuming that the ones found on my iMac by keyfinder are correct. Adobe have accepted them at the serial number input box stage and have even returned information regarding them being for Mac, Version numbers 12.0 and 13.0 etc., etc.

kglad · Answer

there are several possible ways to find/recover an adobe serial number.

1. search purchased materials: https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/find-serial-number.html

2. you can check your account (if you purchased from or registered with adobe AND you remember the adobe id used to purchase/register), https://account.adobe.com 3

3. if your adobe program is installed on another computer you can recover its serial number from that computer,

(win:) http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

(mac:) https://mac-product-key-finder.com/

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post if it helps you get responses.

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