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Inspiring
June 4, 2018
Answered

Lightroom 6 Develop Module Disabled Despite License Purchased

  • June 4, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 8857 views

I am running Windows 10 on an HP laptop. I purchased Lightroom 6 in March. I installed and registered it at this time. I have been using it for the past few months without any problems. Two weeks ago I received a message that I needed to login to register. When I did this I got stuck in a login loop. I uninstalled and reinstalled. It worked for a week but now the develop module is disabled. It must have been running as a trial despite the fact that I was logged in and my product is registered.

When I open Lightroom I get the message: "Develop module is disabled. Please purchase a membership or license to reactivate the Develop module. If you have a serial number to enter, please sign out from the Help menu and sign in again, then click License This Software."

I have an active Adobe ID and the serial number for my product and it is registered. When I sign out and then back into Lightroom, it acknowledges that I have paid for the software but it remains in the trial version.

I get this message: : "Congratulations on purchasing Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6 using your Adobe ID myemailaddress@email.com. Click continue to enjoy the licensed copy of your software."

BUT, when the product opens, I get the exact SAME message that the Develop module is disabled.

I downloaded and installed Lightroom 6. The executable is called Lightroom_6_LS11.exe This installs a trial version of Lightroom CC2015 . When I log into Lightroom, it SHOULD convert to a licensed version of Lightroom 6 (as indicated on this help page. https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/serialize-lightroom-cc-trial-to-activate-as-lightroom-6.html)

Multiple representatives have tried to help but were not able to resolve. Here is what we have tried:

The product has been uninstalled and reinstalled 9 times. Two representatives have logged onto my machine and uninstalled, cleaned out the adobe files and reinstalled. We have used the cc cleaner to clean creative cloud desktop app and lightroom from the following link:

https://helpx.adobe.com/in/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

After that we installed Lightroom 6.0 and 6.14 from below link. First I installed Lightroom 6.0 then updated to 6.14 using an administrator account.

https://www.adobe.com/downloads/other-downloads.html

I have tried creating a new Adobe ID with the help of an Adobe representative who transferred my serial number across to the new account. I logged into Lightroom, the representative entered my serial number but this did not work.

I have had help from 2 amazing representatives and been mucked around by 4 others. I have been told that I would receive a phone call at a particular time and they didn't call. I am at the end of my rope. I urgently need this product to work!

I believe that the problem is at the point of licensing and is not an installation error. Can someone please, please help me?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer seajai-nO0HxE

An Adobe representative just called and resolved the issue for me! YAY!!!

He logged onto my computer and completed the process for me. Below are the steps that I remember... please note that this is only from memory and I may be missing some steps. So if you follow these steps, proceed with that in mind!

1. Open Lightroom 6 and log out of Adobe ID account.

2. Close the program.

3. Open task manager. Close all "Processes" that are associated with Adobe programs.

4. SLStore and SLCache folders

This is the closest I could find to what the Adobe guy did. From: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2466226

  • Sign out from the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application (Sign in and sign out to activate Creative Cloud apps)
  • Browse to the location: [System Drive]:\ProgramData\Adobe
  • Rename the 'SLStore' folder to 'SLStore_old'
  • Browse to the location: [System Drive]:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe
  • Rename the 'SLCache' folder to 'SLCache_old'
  • Sign in to the Adobe CC desktop app (? the Adobe representative didn't do this step)

5. Restore permissions to licensing folders

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/configuration-error.html

6. Reset the hosts file

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/x-productkb/policy-pricing/activation-network-issues.html

7. Open Lightroom 6 and log in. The product should launch properly.

4 replies

KR Seals
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 10, 2021

@9630920 I suggest you start a new thread. This one shows answered so not many will look at it.

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
Participant
November 6, 2020

How do you get an Adobe representative to call? I've spent 2 hrs on chat and got nowhere - I despertately need this to work

 

Participant
February 9, 2021

I too am experiencing similar issue and went trough the above steps with no resultion. 

I have a lifetime lightroom cd that i activated on my old laptop, it was working fine until recently that it has been asking for purchase.

I now bought a new laptop and i have attempted to install on my new laptop. I logged in to my account and i see my licesnsed lightroom. I was prompted to download creative cloud & lightroom classic. However, everytime i am tring to access the develop option, i get a message "develp module is desabled. Please purchase a subscription or license to reactivate the develop module"

seajai-nO0HxEAuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
June 6, 2018

An Adobe representative just called and resolved the issue for me! YAY!!!

He logged onto my computer and completed the process for me. Below are the steps that I remember... please note that this is only from memory and I may be missing some steps. So if you follow these steps, proceed with that in mind!

1. Open Lightroom 6 and log out of Adobe ID account.

2. Close the program.

3. Open task manager. Close all "Processes" that are associated with Adobe programs.

4. SLStore and SLCache folders

This is the closest I could find to what the Adobe guy did. From: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2466226

  • Sign out from the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application (Sign in and sign out to activate Creative Cloud apps)
  • Browse to the location: [System Drive]:\ProgramData\Adobe
  • Rename the 'SLStore' folder to 'SLStore_old'
  • Browse to the location: [System Drive]:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe
  • Rename the 'SLCache' folder to 'SLCache_old'
  • Sign in to the Adobe CC desktop app (? the Adobe representative didn't do this step)

5. Restore permissions to licensing folders

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/configuration-error.html

6. Reset the hosts file

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/x-productkb/policy-pricing/activation-network-issues.html

7. Open Lightroom 6 and log in. The product should launch properly.

Jeffrey_A_Wright
Legend
June 6, 2018

Excellent, Catherine, thank you for the update!

99jon
Legend
June 4, 2018

The serialize process should work. Did you start by signing-out?

Try these steps:

Go to the Lightroom menu: Help > Sign Out <your email address>

Quit Lightroom

Relaunch Lightroom and click Sign In Now

Click the button - License This Software

Enter serial number – 24 digits starting 1160 & click Next

Lightroom should launch as LR6

Inspiring
June 4, 2018

Thanks for your response 99jon.

Yes, I have signed out, closed lightroom, opened it again and logged in again. The program recognizes that I have registered the product, congratulates me  on my purchase but when the program opens, the develop module is still disabled.

Because I have registered the product it does not give me the option to enter the serial number when I sign in. To get around this, one of the Adobe representatives created a new ID and transferred the serial number to the new account. We logged in, the representative entered the serial number, the number was processed and accepted but the develop module was still disabled.

I am sure there is something wrong with the registration process. Anyone with any ideas?

99jon
Legend
June 4, 2018

Registration is separate to activation. It simply records purchased products meaning you would qualify for upgrade pricing should you ever decide to switch to a newer version.

I don’t understand why you are not seeing the boxes to enter the serial number after clicking the button “Licence this Software” after sign-in. Clearly you are still on the CC 2015 trial (now expired) which is why develop is disabled.

After sign-out from the help menu and quitting Lightroom try rebooting your computer. Then launch Lightroom again.

Let us know if that makes any difference. Otherwise I think you are stuck in a licencing loop and only Adobe staff can fix it by cleaning up the relevant system folders.