Install PS CS2 on a Win 11 Desktop?

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I'm a registered owner of PS CS2 and have used it for yrs on a defunct Win 7 machine. Trying to install it on a new Win 11 unit, and having a difficult time in doing so. Any advice would be appreciated.

Windows

Ged_TraynorCorrect answer

Community Expert

@Robert30543937znuh the activation servers for CS4, CS3 and CS2 have been shutdown, so even if you could install it you won't be able to activate it

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite.html

J

j.klein

Participant

I haven't tried it on Win 11, but on Win 10, installing and running CS2 worked for me, if i installed the apps (Photoshop, Illustrator etc) individually (i.e. with their individual setup.exe's). However, if instead, i used the setup.exe for the entire suite, i ran into some licensing problems.

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D Fosse

Community Expert

@j.klein Once the 30 day trial period is out, it will stop working.

(BTW - a suite serial number will not be accepted for an individual application, and vice versa).

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J

j.klein

Participant

I've been using my installation for years already though.. it will ask me to register every time i open a CS2 app, but thats something different i reckon.. and i can just cancel that dialog and start working..

I was given a set of serial numbers (win / mac, single apps and suite). I bought it as a student from my university, so maybe its some special thingy.. it looks quite normal to me though..

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R

Retune

Participating Frequently

After Adobe killed the activation servers, they made an activation-free version available to licensed users here:

Unfortunately, this link is not currently active, and redirects to a generic page with no useful information, though you may still be able to access the old page <edit-kglad>. Whether CS2 works on Windows 11 is another issue (I have successfully installed CS3 on W11 using a similar activation-free installer that Adobe used to provide, but I recall CS2 being problematic on W10). Even if it does work, CS2 has some significant known security vulnerabilities that were only patched in later versions.

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Russ_in_VT

Participant

I have the old activation-free version but it's not installing properly on Windows 11. Is there a way to activate compatibility mode installation?

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D Fosse

Community Expert

Case in point, as was pointed out above: even if it could be activated, there's no guarantee that 20 year old (!) software will work in a modern operating system on modern hardware.

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thatsmauri

Community Expert

Adobe had to retire their aging activation servers for earlier versions of the Creative Suite several years ago, making it impossible to activate Creative Suite 2 products nowadays.