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Adobe Acrobat Pro XI deactivation/activation hell

Community Beginner ,
Apr 06, 2017 Apr 06, 2017

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I'm hoping someone here can help me.  After over an hour in a support chat session that went nowhere I am very frustrated.

We have a user here who has Acrobat Pro XI installed on her PC.  It was time for her to get a new desktop and I wanted to transfer her XI license over to the new PC and did the following:

1. Deactivated XI on old PC

2. Installed XI on new PC

Now whenever I start XI on the new PC it wants me to sign in with an Adobe ID to activate.  I do not want to do this, I have the serial for XI that I deactivated and I just want to activate the product with the serial no.

I see no way of doing this and it's driving me insane.  Adobe chat support kept transferring me around and saying I need to sign in with my Adobe ID.

I don't understand.  I installed it on the "old" PC just using a serial no, how come I can't do that on the new PC?

Anyone else run into this very aggravating issue?

If I sign in with my Adobe ID, it activates but then deactivates CC on my computer here.

Thanks!

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Install update and subscribe to Acrobat

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Expert , Apr 06, 2017 Apr 06, 2017

uninstall everything cc including preferences, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-remove-app.html

then uninstall the cc desktop app, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html

clean your computer of cc files per http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

restart your computer (don't skip this)

reinstall acrobat xi and activate.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 06, 2017 Apr 06, 2017

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uninstall everything cc including preferences, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-remove-app.html

then uninstall the cc desktop app, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html

clean your computer of cc files per http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

restart your computer (don't skip this)

reinstall acrobat xi and activate.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 07, 2017 Apr 07, 2017

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Thanks, that worked.  I didn't have any CC apps on that machine so just had to uninstall Pro and reinstall.

I reinstalled from the disc I had so that would indicate that the install package for Acrobat Pro XI that Adobe has on its site has an update that forces Adobe ID activation and no longer gives you the option to activate by serial number which is ridiculous.

Thanks again.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 07, 2017 Apr 07, 2017

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you're welcome.

p.s. as far as i know, either:

something cc (eg, a trial or something else) was installed on that computer and/or

a program (eg, acrobat xi) was upgraded to cc

i don't know of any other way to get cc licensing on the problematic computer.  the only acrobat xi downloads available are for perpetual licensees and are not subscription.  but they will be converted to subscription when something like the above occurs on the computer containing acrobat xi.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 07, 2017 Apr 07, 2017

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It was a brand new desktop that I wiped and installed Windows 10 on.

Installed Office and then Adobe Acrobat Pro XI from the install package from Adobe's website.

Did not install any CC programs and there were none on there when I was uninstalling / using the cleaner tools so I don't know what happened that was forcing activation via an Adobe ID.

Very strange.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 07, 2017 Apr 07, 2017

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another adobe mystery (and there are plenty).

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 18, 2022 Feb 18, 2022

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Hi Kglad,

 

I am having difficulty transferring a deactivating a license for adobe acrobat standard xi since the user do not work with the company anymore and the computer has been re-imaged. is there a way to deactivate it online?

 

key: <removed-kglad>

 

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Community Expert ,
Feb 19, 2022 Feb 19, 2022

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1. never expose your serial number.

2. if, when trying to reinstall, you see an excess activation count message, you can get adobe support to reset the activation count to zero.  that will deactivate all installations.  with your serial number and the installation file, you can then install and activate on another (compatible) computer.

3. only ask for "an activation count reset".  ask anything else regarding an unsupported product (like acrobat xi) and you will be denied all help.

 

using a browser that allows popups and cookies, contact adobe support during pst business hours by clicking 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

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 19, 2022 Feb 19, 2022

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thanks for your reply.

 

I was advised by the adobe tech support to post my serial number here in the support community.  also you are right, xi is out of support and that is why support pointed me to this support community.

 

will call again and try to ask support to reset count

 

TA

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LEGEND ,
Feb 20, 2022 Feb 20, 2022

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Do you have a case numnber from support, Tata23231037q8go? This is the most outrageous advice from support I have ever heard, Certainly, they won't support, bur to tell you to post your serial number is outrageous. I can only repeat the advice: ask for an ACTIVATION COUNT RESET and be sure to ask for that FIRST AND OFTEN. 

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New Here ,
Apr 07, 2022 Apr 07, 2022

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Hello.

After a very similarly frustrating chat with Adobe CS just now, it seems that the agents you get may or may not know how to reset the count. Is there some way I can reach out to someone to make sure it is someone that knows how? They won't even let me speak to their supervisor.

Thank you!

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Community Expert ,
Apr 07, 2022 Apr 07, 2022

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just try again, and ask for one thing only: "an activation count reset" for <your adobe program/version>.

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New Here ,
Aug 30, 2023 Aug 30, 2023

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It is amazing how hard Adobe makes it to speak with a human.
I tried "repairing" the adobe acrobat in my old computer. The repair added an uninstall menu item but hung up writing a file to my system folder.  So, while the system folder error message was up I pulled down the menu and selected uninstall.
I THINK this might work.
Oh if Adobe only gave a damn about those it takes money from...

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Community Expert ,
Aug 30, 2023 Aug 30, 2023

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@WDannen 

 

keep us posted if you have a problem.

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New Here ,
Aug 30, 2023 Aug 30, 2023

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Will do.  Fortunately my old computer wasn't dead-dead, it just arrived at that point in a Microsoft system where it crashes regularly and had to be moved to the closet in the office.
I appreciate this forum, thank you for it.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 30, 2023 Aug 30, 2023

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make sure you secure your serial number (if is recoverable from your old computer).

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