CS6 License Deactivation Notice

[Snow CS]

Yesterday I received a CS6 License Deactivation Notice on my screen. I have owned my Creative Masters collection CS6 for over 10 years. My laptop died about 8 years ago and I was able to successfully install my CS6 on my new Mac. Ever since all has been running smoothly on this computer. However, yesterday while I was creating something for my daughter for her school camp in Indesign, I received a chilling notice on my screen which had the Adobe logo saying that my license will be deactivated in 5 days due to misuse. It is very stressful and I’m very upset about this. I don’t know if it is some kind of glitch or scam but I wanted to resolve this if it is an official notice as my license has only ever been used by myself for myself on the one computer.  I have been a mum at home with my kids for the last 14 years using my CS6 software to keep up my skills while I am not in the workforce so I depend on my license staying active. I was wanting to resolve this issue with Adobe but I am unable to find a direct Adobe Help contact point, so I am posting my situation here. Thank you and I look forward to resolving this matter. Kind regards.

[kglad]

contact adobe support via x and ask. there are 2 ways to contact adobe support; chat and twitter (now x):

chat:
if you have or want to purchase a subscription, use a browser that allows popups and cookies
and click here, https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen
in the chat field (lower right), type AGENT
be patient, it can take quite a while to reach a human.

twitter/x:
tweet @AdobeCare

p.s. if you're contacted by anyone (via email or private message), it's much more likely to be a scammer than an adobe representative.

[Carlos Fandango]

I have just tried this (after originally trying unsuccessfully to talk to the bot about my issue), it says that "I need to have an account linked to an active plan linked to my e-mail address" (I take it that is referring to a Creative Cloud subscription - I don't have one). I have already tried Twitter(X) tagging Adobe (I have also just tried Adobe Care, so will wait and see).

[kglad]

twitter response can take a day or so, but i'm pretty sure that's going to be unsatisfactory.  rarely, users have reported reinstatement of their license because adobe finds an error on their end, but the overwhelming majority of user are simply told, you're license was revoked because of a violation.  they're using not even told what violation, when nor where.

[Carlos Fandango]

I am in the same boat, CS6 has only ever been installed on my Mac Pro (2012) and I have just received the same message. Tried to get some information on this and just went round in circles until it said CS6 is no longer supported. Just noticed that you had it happen in May, did you get this matter resolved, or did it indeed expire?

[kglad]

cs6 licenses don't expire. 

but invalid serial number messages can appear without anything new occuring on the user end for any of several reasons.  the most common is because adobe's recently discovered the serial number used to activate your perpetual license was used illegally.

that doesn't mean you, the user, did anything wrong.  in fact, the issue is usually the vendor that sold the license years ago.

[Carlos Fandango · Accepted solution]

OK, I finally clicked on the pop-up message and found a support number and reference No. So I called the number and spoke to a very helpful Adobe support guy who is going to send me a script to uninstall CS6 and reinstall/re-register it. It could be that it was registered with an old e-mail address I had that is no longer active...that said, I have been using it for about 20 years(?!) now. So I'll give that a whirl when it arrives and see what happens (I just hope all my plug-ins will still work!)

[Carlos Fandango]

(I hadn't clicked on the pop-up link before then as I wasn't sure if it was malware/spam)

[kglad]

you can't reregister cs6.  you can reactivate it IF you have a valid (not revoked) serial number.

regarding this issue, your email address is irrelevent.

make sure you revela no private info to a possible scammer.

[Carlos Fandango]

Oh! Damn.

[kglad]

what type of info did you reveal.  don't post the actual info.  these are public forums.

[Carlos Fandango]

confirmed e-mail address registered, serial no...feel like a dunce!
now trying to sort with Adobe.

[Carlos Fandango]

OK...it was legit *phew!*...looks like its sorted now Suite has been added to my current Adobe account. Will wait and see if i need to uninstall/reinstall. 

[kglad]

you shouldn't need to do that and it's likely to cause more problems.

you could restart your computer, open a cs6 app and see if there's any problem.  if not, in the opened app click help and notice of activate or deactivate is clickable.  don't click either, just check.

[Carlos Fandango]

Yeah, have restarted and havent seen the popup reappear yet...going to wait and see what happens now.

[Carlos Fandango]

Spoke too soon. 😕

need to sort my camera gear from yesterday's shoot now, so will have another bash at this tomorrow.

[kglad]

ok.  keep us updated.

[kglad]

and see if you can register your serial number, https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/find-serial-number.html?linkId=100000275266952

[Illostraight]

This recently happened to me. The only way I could get a job done was to take the computer with CS6 offline so Adobe couldn't delete it and load the work on a thumbdrive and transfer it on to my new computer to send it to my client. I'm running Sierra on a 2012 and the one guy I spoke with from adobe said that unless the computer has up to date software, it won't be secure and CS6 won't be downloaded. This was what was in the 'help' link he sent to me:

To successfully complete the deactivation or activation process, the computer must be able to contact Adobe servers. To maintain the security and resilience of Adobe servers, we require that computers apply and implement critical security updates before contacting us. For additional information on updating the computer to meet these needs, see Update your operating system to work with Adobe apps.

[kglad]

@Illostraight 

so, all's well?

[Illostraight]

No. I own it and can't reinstall it. How is that well?

[kglad]

you stated, you "...got the job done".

but that's not important to dwell on.  what problem are you having?

[Illostraight]

I need to reinstall CS6 software on the computer I originally purchased it for. 2012 Desktop Sierra. There is NO reason why Adobe is preventing me from doing this.

[kglad]

are you seeing an excess activation count message when trying to activate?

[Illostraight]

K, I am afraid to plug the internet cable back in as I pulled it when the message first popped up so that I could finish a job. I need to know it's going to work with Sierra before I plug it in again or the apps will disappear. Can't anyone give me a clear answer? Or a tech to call?