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Participant
October 12, 2026
Question

Subject: CS5.5 Design Premium Student & Teacher Edition — Activation Not Released After Deactivation

  • October 12, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 9 views

I purchased Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Design Premium Student and Teacher Edition in 2011. I have my original installation discs, serial number, and Adobe-issued redemption confirmation dated July 31, 2011.

I recently replaced a computer and followed Adobe's prescribed Help > Deactivate procedure to release an activation. The older installation now offers only trial mode, indicating that it was deactivated locally.

However, my new Windows 11 computer continues to report "Activation limit reached," despite repeated attempts to retry activation.

I have confirmed that the older computer can reach Adobe's licensing endpoint (successful "pong" response) and has TLS 1.2 enabled.

My original email address is no longer recognized by Adobe's account system, and I cannot access support chat without an active subscription.

I am requesting that an Adobe employee review my historical educational license record and determine whether the deactivation was received by Adobe's licensing servers. If it was not, is there an available process for correcting the activation record?

I am not seeking a subscription, software updates, or compatibility support. I am simply trying to continue using my legitimately purchased perpetual license on a replacement computer.

Thank you for any assistance.

Note that I am asking this from a different Adobe account since the original email address for this activation is no longer recognized by Adobe.

    2 replies

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 12, 2026

    You seemed to perform all the correct steps. However, it’s unlikely something can be done in your case, unfortunately. CS5.5 activations servers are not maintained anymore and even Adobe employees don’t have access to them.

    If there’s a different process for educational licenses I’m not aware of, I’m sure others will chime in.