Skip to main content
P
photogal100
Participant
October 2, 2015
Answered

Unable to activate/deactivate license after wiping my computer

  • October 2, 2015
  • 3 replies
  • 656 views

I have an older laptop that I've had to wipe a couple of times and now I want to get rid of it.  I want to activate the license on my new laptop.  I went to reinstall my Photoshop CS3 after the second wipe and it wouldn't let me activate the license to deactivate the license.


I did install the program on my new laptop because I needed it but wasn't able to activate the license to get updates.  I know I can put it on two computer but I also have it installed on my desktop.

Anyone have an idea about what to do?  Or should I just update to the latest version?


Thanks for your help!

    Correct answer Terri Stevens

    You can only have to activated copies of Photoshop and technically only be using one of them at a given time. If you haven't deactivated on your old machine your running total will still be two so you will need to contact Adobe and have them reset your account.

    You can use the chat applet here but they do shut it down at weekends. So you probably have about 90 minutes before that happens

    Contact Customer Care

    Terri

    3 replies

    John T Smith
    Community Expert
    John T SmithCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 18, 2025

    >Photoshop CS3

     

    You can't activate that very old program

    The CS2-CS3-CS4 activation servers have been removed from service
    -https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite.html?promoid=19SCDRQK
    -So even if you have a disc or saved download, CS2-CS3-CS4 are completely dead
    -Adobe also no longer supplies the special non-activation version of CS2-CS3-CS4

    Mrinmay Majhi
    Community Manager
    Mrinmay MajhiCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    October 2, 2015

    Moving to Downloading, Installing, Setting Up

    Terri Stevens
    Terri StevensCorrect answer
    Legend
    October 2, 2015

    You can only have to activated copies of Photoshop and technically only be using one of them at a given time. If you haven't deactivated on your old machine your running total will still be two so you will need to contact Adobe and have them reset your account.

    You can use the chat applet here but they do shut it down at weekends. So you probably have about 90 minutes before that happens

    Contact Customer Care

    Terri

    D
    Davids777
    Participating Frequently
    March 18, 2025

    Hi, I have the same problem but active licence don't appear on my account and because of that, bot don't reset my licence. I changed my email and I think it's the reason for bot not recognize my active licence but licence apear in my account, only active not apear. Where I can talk to an human from Adobe to explain this ? Thanks 

    kglad
    Community Expert
    kgladCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 18, 2025

    @Davids777 

     

    there's no help from adobe bot or no bot.

     

    what problem do you see when trying to activate?

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices