PhotoShop Elements 2021

To all who kindly answered, Thank You.

Updating to state that I have now finally managed to resolve the issues of Installation and subsequent Activation. All now opertaing as expected.

Thanks again. Appreciated.

Hi,

Thanks for your response and sorry the issue hasn't been resolved yet 😞

The Error code: 199 doesn't appear to be very common so information on dealing with it is a bit scant, but it does seem to have something to do with a previously incomplete uninstall. The Error code: 81 is a little more common and involves another Adobe application or process running in the background which is causing a conflict with the installer.

For Error code: 81 you need to use the follow Knowledge Base article to close down the offending app or process:

How to close a conflicting process in Windows 

For Error code: 199 the only apparent solution is to use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool. You say you have already used this but I don't know which options you chose, so bear with me if you've already done exactly all of this 🙂

- Go to the Knowledge Base article How and when to use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool and scroll down to the section entitled "How to use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool" and select Windows from the Choose your OS dropdown menu.

- As @Com-Su explains in his post on this Support Community, at the first menu screen choose "1" for All

- On the second menu screen you can either select the individual apps you want to uninstall, or what I might be tempted to do at this point is go for the "nuclear" option - that's "18" for Clean All. It depends on what other Adobe apps you have installed on your system and how prepared you are to reinstall them all (if that is what is needed).

One of the nice things about Photoshop Elements is that you can have multiple versions of the application on your computer at the same time, so many Elements users keep their old versions installed as well as their most recent version. That means there aren't many instances of where uninstall procedures haven't gone according to plan, and hence I don't have many previous cases to refer to when helping with this particular problem.

If following the above advice still doesn't solve your issue(s), or you're not happy with having to go through all this yourself, then I highly recommend getting in touch with Adobe Customer Care directly. You may have to be patient and wait a little while for a response - most Adobe employees are still working remotely, like many people across the world - and as such, there's inevitably a little slowdown in normal operations. However, I've seen some really good feedback recently about Adobe Customer Care - where they even remotely take control of your computer and fix these sort of "under-the-hood" issues.

If you're based in the US the number you can call is 1-800-833-6687. Their hours are Monday to Friday (24 hours a day).

If you're in the UK the number you can call is 020-7365-0735. Their hours are Monday to Friday (9am to 5pm every day).

Alternatively, you can use the Adobe Customer Care Virtual Assistant online chat service. To open up a new chat session click this link: Contact Customer Care. If you type "Agent" in the message area, you will be able to bypass the bot part of the process and get connected to a "real" person 🙂

Hope that helps 🙂

Hi,

Adobe provide two very good Knowledge Base articles in the Support section of their website that can be very helpful when installing Adobe Photoshop Elements, especially if you're new to installing Photoshop Elements.

The first one is Installing Photoshop Elements, which has a great Troubleshoot Installation section at the end of the article.

Fortunately, you have already got through this stage without a hitch, so that leads onto your problem with connecting to the Adobe Activation server when the application attempts to verify your serial number, and the second Knowledge Base article - Resolve Connection Errors.

I suggest going through the steps (in order) outlined under the heading How to fix connection errors. Although, feel free to focus on Step 2: Reset your hosts file which @MichelBParis correctly mentions as being the usual suspect when dealing with this type of problem.

On a side note, this is a user-to-user support community, not really the place to let your frustrations out and have a rant at Adobe when things aren't going as smoothly as you'd wish. I understand we all get stressed out when technology doesn't work the way it should (which of course isn't just limited to Adobe products). I must admit after reading your post the first time four hours ago, my reaction was to wait until you'd calmed down before I replied. I'm not going to spend my time trying to be helpful, if all you're going to do is vent your anger towards me instead. So if you want a swifter reply if everyone's advice still doesn't resolve this problem (or next time you have a new problem), try and stay a little calmer, be a bit more polite, and cut out the colorful language. Thanks 🙂

In the same vein as @Glenn 8675309 , my first thought was to suspect a problem in your 'hosts' file blocking anything from Adobe to access Internet. It's not easy to search the thousands of posts about Elements in this forum, but users following it since more than ten years have already read similar complaints as your present one. It's not very common, but in all cases it appeared than something in your own setup  was set to deliberately forbid access to the web to Adobe.

In such a circumstance, it would have been better to use direct access to the Adobe Support (preferably by chat)  - 'Contact us' link - than asking in a user to user forum. However I am sure that other volunteers in this forum will be better than me in helping you. That should not be long...

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@default70bokar73sm4 wrote:

Why on earth does Adobe persist in hiding away behind this cloak and that cloak rather than offering helpful and meaningful Support????

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This is a user to user support forum. Users here volunteer to support Adobe products. 

To provide feedback and suggestions about what you desire from Adobe, you should go to this URL and comment after selecting the appropriate product line:
https://feedback.photoshop.com/categories/products/5f5f2090785c1f1e6cc40864

Now IF you want help from users, be more specific about the error, provide a screen capture, your specific OS etc. Or just go to the URL above, complain and see if someone from Adobe might help you. 

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@default70bokar73sm4 wrote:

no wonder Microsoft Windows kicked Adobe Flash into history

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Your post has been moved from the Photoshop forum to Photoshop Elements where the forum volunteers will be better equipped to answer your question about PS Elements.

I've never heard the Microsoft Windows "kicked Adobe Flash into history". Most people say Steve Jobs at Apple caused its demise.

Hi ,

I've moved your post from the Photoshop forum to the Photoshop Elements forum. If you want help from the volunteer users who answer questions on this forum (we are not Adobe employees) please give the exact error messages.

Dave