Serial Number in use by max. allowed - no changes have been made

Question

A client has emailed in with this error: The serial Number '...' is already in use by the maximum allowed computers. You must deactivate another computer or provide another valid serial number to use Acrobat XI Pro again on this computer

The problem here is that no changes have been made to the serial number that we are aware of. No new computers have been added, therefore the serial number has not had any additional activation's. Is there any way to check current activation's on a particular serial number?

Amal. · Accepted Answer

Same issue here. I have no access to the old Mac and can't deactivate. Any hints?

[Note: This message has been modified by Admin]

Hi there,

Hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out.

If the computer on which you installed the product is no longer available (for example, you have lost the computer, formatted the hard drive, or the hard drive has crashed), you can deactivate your apps from your Adobe account page: helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/activation-limit-reached-creative-cloud.html. Then, install the apps on the new computer and follow the onscreen instructions.

To troubleshoot activation limit reached or sign-in failed errors for non-subscription products, please open this help page using this URL: helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/error-activation-limit-reached-sign.html

Note: The option to deactivate your apps from the account management page is only supported for Creative Cloud desktop apps.

~Amal

Test Screen Name · Answer

A bit more background (which does not change the underlying solution, need to contact Adobe...) You may not have the full story from your customer. Adobe software sometimes does mysterious and unexpected things, but my personal experience has been that this message comes out only when installing the software. So, why is the software being installed? Was it uninstalled deliberately? Was the computer replaced? Was the hard disk replaced? Some other major change to the computer? When doing these things, it is recommended to DEACTIVATE the copy you have, to free up the license for use on a new system or disk. If an old disk or computer is gone beyond repair, however, it's too late and you have to ask Adobe for an "activation count reset". Use those buzzwords early to make sure you go down the right path in the support scripts.

To troubleshoot activation limit reached or sign-in failed errors for non-subscription products, please open this help page using this URL: helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/error-activation-limit-reached-sign.html

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