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Frustrated PE12
Participant
December 16, 2014
Question

Photoshop Elements is registered but when I open it says "sign in required" and the sign in page freezes with the spinning wheel of death

  • December 16, 2014
  • 4 replies
  • 3318 views

I bought PS Elements 12 for download (not from Adobe). I Installed it, the serial number was entered, all seemed fine.

Yet when I open the program I get a message:

"Sign in Required. Signing in with an Adobe ID and registering PSE 12 is required within 7 days otherwise it will stop working. Enter Adobe ID to register your product".

When I click to sign in and enter my password, i just get the spinning wheel of death and can't cancel the operation. I have to reboot every time.

I've tried disabling my Norton smart firewall and auto-protect, doesn't help.

My Adobe password is correct. If I log in and enter the serial number in my account, it says the product is already registered (yet it doesn't appear in my account manager).

Basically the program won't connect to Adobe to activate the product, but the product can't be used unless this connection is made.

I can't call any human being to help me and I don't know if I can get a refund for a downloaded purchase. I'm out $76, I'm angry and frustrated.

Can anybody help? 

    4 replies

    F
    Frustrated PE12Author
    Participant
    December 17, 2014

    I have clicked it many times, it's an endless loop of online FAQ type "help" with no way to speak to an actual person. I have read and re-read and read again, so many times. Nothing addresses this problem.
    There is a link called "Overview of support options" and it shows that for PSE, the only help is this online chat. So is anybody from Adobe actually reading these boards who could offer up a human being to contact? While I appreciate that a couple of people have tried to help, this "chat" is not an effective way to solve a major problem.

      Jeffrey_A_Wright
      Community Manager
      Jeffrey_A_WrightCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      December 18, 2014

      Frustrated PE12 you may be finding limited contact options due to Photoshop Elements 12 not being registered under your account.  I checked the e-mail address you are posting to the forums and there are no registered products. For most issues you will need to have a product registered prior to being able to contact our support team.

      For information on how to register Photoshop Elements 12 at http://www.adobe.com/ please see Find your serial number quickly - http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/find-serial-number.html.

      If you continue to experience difficulty accessing Adobe.com web pages or registering your software you may want to consider utilizing a different computer, smartphone, or tablet to contact  our support team at Contact Customer Care.

      You are also welcome to private message me your serial number but the most expedient method would be to register the software title online.

      F
      Frustrated PE12Author
      Participant
      December 19, 2014

      Jeff, got back to my original post. As I've said, I log in and it shows no products, but when I enter the registration info, it tells me the product is already registered. I am using the same email for all of this. I can't explain why my account shows nothing, I just know i couldn't register it again because it said my number was already registered. I will send you the registration number.

      F
      Frustrated PE12Author
      Participant
      December 17, 2014

      Thank you for the replies. I'm afraid neither one helped.

      kglad, I never get to any error code so your link can't help.

      Jeff, I looked at your link and

      a) again, I never make it to an error code

      b) I'm definitely connected to the internet

      c) I can access secure sites; I tried connecting with the firewall disabled and the same thing happened, so I don't believe it's a firewall issue.

      d) I don't understand the checking host sites - this is far too complicated for a novice user. It should not be this difficult to get a software running. I don't want to mess with these kinds of settings.

      e) I followed the steps for the global sign in root CA and my screen looks the same as the picture here.

      I can't activate the software offline as there is no option to generate a response code when I click on having trouble connecting to the internet. All I get is a prompt to change my password.

      If the problem were simply connectivity from my computer, then why does the box completely freeze? Can't cancel, can't click on the little X to close it, can't right click on the box to close it. I have to reboot every single time. I know others have had the same problem and I haven't found any answers that I could apply.

      I don't understand for the life of me why Adobe does not have TELEPHONE customer support. I have spent 2 days on this, this is crazy.

        kglad
        Community Expert
        kgladCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 17, 2014

        at the bottom of that link is a 'still need help' link.  click it to contact adobe support.

        Jeffrey_A_Wright
        Community Manager
        Jeffrey_A_WrightCommunity Manager
        Community Manager
        December 16, 2014

        Frustrated pe12 if the computer is unable to contact the activation server then it is likely due to a connection error.  You can find details on how to resolve connection errors at Sign in, activation, or connection errors | CC, CS6, CS5.5 - http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/activation-network-issues.html.

        kglad
        Community Expert
        kgladCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 16, 2014

        Troubleshoot and fix installation errors

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