Photoshop CS5 complaining of max users

Question

Previously, I only ever loaded my PhotoShop CS5 Extended on my desktop. Recently I installed it on my new laptop.

When I used for first time it worked but complained that I reached the max number of devices (2)....BUT THIS IS THE 2ND.

I did have a live chat with support but they could not resolve.

Although CS5 is older, it has everything I need. Agent suggested upgrading to Cloud version , but I am on a fixed income and cannot afford.

Any ideas on how to resolve would be greatly appreciated.

creative explorer · Answer

@Bubbly_contributors7628 the problem is moving from an older computer a new computer. The question is did you 'deactivate' from the old computer? If you didn't, when you installed CS5 on your new laptop, it tries to activate. If your old desktop (the one it was previously installed on) is still activated on Adobe's servers, even if you rarely use it or it's simply powered off, it counts as one of your two allowed activations. To free up an activation, you're supposed to "deactivate" Photoshop CS5 on the old computer. You do this from within Photoshop itself, usually via Help > Deactivate. This tells Adobe's activation servers that one slot is now free.

If it succeeds, you've freed up a slot. Then try activating on your new laptop. If this computer is truly "old" or has issues, the deactivation might fail due to connectivity problems with Adobe's now-retired/limited servers. BUUUTTTTT, CS5's compatibility with modern operating systems like Windows 11 is a significant issue as well and worse, potential security issues.

You might need to do a search on YouTube if CS5 is able to work on Windows 11!

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