Unable to register Creative Suite 5.5 Design Standard

Question

I purchased Creative Suite 5.5 Design Standard for Mac on eBay and the applications have installed and updated. Each of the three main applications (Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop) prompted me for my Adobe ID when I first opened them after installation. All 3 apps have the "Deactivate..." option under the Help menu item, so I assume that means they've activated.

When I log into my Adobe ID account and try to enter the serial number to register the product I get the message "This serial number is already in use". I plan on contacting Adobe through the chat function but anticipate a long wait. If you can help answer any of the following questions I would be most grateful. The bottom line is, I just want to be able to use the 3 main apps without any problems.

1. Since the product has activated on my Mac but cannot be registered, does this indicate that the previous owner most likely did deactivate the software but did not submit a transfer of ownership form to Adobe?

2. Since this is older unsupported software, and I do have the installation DVDs and what appears to be a valid serial number, do I stand to gain anything by having the software registered? Or, put another way, as long as it stays activated and I can use it, am I out anything if I can't clear up the registration issue?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide. I appreciate your time.

Nancy OShea · Accepted Answer

Activation is essential as it allows you to use the software.  Unactivated software stops working when the trial ends. Registration is not essential.  It merely associates you with the serial number in case you need support.  However, discontinued software is unsupported.  So it's a moot point. As of 2020, activation and registration servers for CS1, CS2 and CS3 are dead & gone.  It's impossible to activate the software. CS4, CS5 and CS6 are on life support but can still be activated if you have an older OS and the original media (disks or downloads) obtained at purchase along with a matching legitimate serial number.   NOTE: Use unsupported software at your own risk. Failing that, you would need a PAID Creative Cloud subscription:All Apps Plan (annual or month-to-month)Single Apps Plan (annual or month-to-month)All Apps Plan for qualifying students/teachers (annual only)Photography Plan (annual only)https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

Josh5C30 · Answer

After a conversation with Adobe through chat, they confirmed what I found in another post: you can only register a product once. The original owner of the software registered the software with Adobe many years ago and it is still registered to their account. But Adobe also confirmed for me that, although they cannot change the registration, the lack of registration will not affect the activation of the software. It will not be deactivated because you have not registered the software. Since Adobe no longer supports this older software it's not clear to me what anyone would stand to gain by having it registered anyway. I hope this helps anyone else who has questions about registration vs. activation of old unsupported Adobe software.

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