Illustrator CS6 activation limit reached — old PC is broken and cannot deactivate; support refused a reset

Question

I own Illustrator CS6 (version 16.0, Windows, boxed perpetual license), registered to my Adobe ID since April 23, 2013. The product and serial number are visible on my Adobe account products page (I will not post the serial publicly).

After installing on a new PC, I get this error at launch:

"The serial number is already in use by the maximum allowed computers. You need to deactivate another computer within 23 days to use this product."

The old PC that still holds an activation is broken and will not boot, so I cannot deactivate from that machine. My account's "Activated devices" page shows nothing I can remove.

I contacted Adobe support chat, provided the serial number, and asked for an activation reset. The agent replied that activation/deactivation must be done by the customer, and that for this end-of-support product they cannot access or modify the license. I then asked for escalation to a supervisor and a case number, but the chat was closed without any answer.

I still have the original purchase receipt and the product code from the box (ILSTW7-8958-5499).

Question: Is there any official way left to recover an activation slot from a dead PC so I can activate CS6 on the new PC? If Adobe staff can review my case, I can provide the serial number privately. Thank you.

Peru Bob · Accepted Answer

​@Doug A Robertsis correct.Adobe Customer Service (Support) no longer has the ability to reset activations. The only way to deactivate or recover an activation is if you can open the program on the computer that you want to deactivate.

Jeff_A_Wright · Answer

Thank you for posting, ​@strong_charactere977.I understand how frustrating this is, especially when the previous computer is no longer working and you still have your original Illustrator CS6 license.Thank you, ​@Peru Bob, ​@Bill Silbert, and ​@Doug A Robertsfor your contributions to this discussion.I checked the activation information for your license and can confirm that allremaining activations for Illustrator CS6 have been used.If you can regain access to one of the computers where Illustrator CS6 was previously activated, you can deactivate it to make that activation available again. Please see the guidance here:https://community.adobe.com/announcements-616/activation-limit-reached-for-non-subscription-adobe-desktop-applications-565112I hope this helps clarify the options available. Please update this discussion if you have any questions, ​@strong_charactere977.

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