Activate Adobe Creative Suite 6 after successful deactivation

[animaatn]

Why do I need to deactivate 'both' old activations, when I only want to activate one new computer? What if I'm not able to re-activate on any computer afterwards? Right now I'm not able to activate the new computer, nor re-activate the old one, which confirmed successful deactivation yesterday. Now I'm worried to deactivate the last working activation on my other old computer ...

[jane-e]

Why do I need to deactivate 'both' old activations, when I only want to activate one new computer?

By @animaatn

You don't. You need to have one activation available to activate one computer.

What if I'm not able to re-activate on any computer afterwards?

Adobe does not reset activations. If you can't deactivate, then you can continue using Photoshop on the existing computer, but cannot activate it on a new computer.

Jane

[animaatn]

But I already deativated one of the two old computers: "Deactivation successful" it said ... but the error message on the new computer still says "serial already in use by the maximum allowed computers" ... what can I do now? I have acces to all computers ...

[animaatn]

This is what I did:

1 - "Deactivate" the old computer:
"Deactivating allows you to activate your Adobe products on another computer, provided you are acting in accordance with the Software License Agreement. Make sure you are connected to the internet before you deactivate. You may reactivate again on this computer by reentering your serial number."

2 - "Deactivation Successful" on the old computer:
You may now use CS6 Production Premium on another computer. To use CS6 Production Premium on this computer again, please reenter a valid serial number or select Try and enter your Adobe ID associated with your subscription."

3 - But when trying to activate the new computer, it says:
"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 CS6 Production Premium again on this computer."

4 - And when trying to activate the old, deactivated computer again it says:
"The serial number *** is already in use by the maximum allowed computers. You need to deactivate another computer within 30 days to use this product."

How can this behavior be explained?

[animaatn]

Deactivation works flawless, but activation doesn't seem to work at all ...

[Nancy OShea]

• 13+ year old software that's neither sold nor supported. 
• Installed on a brand-new computer system for which CS6 was never intended.
• What could possibly go wrong?  🙄

MODERN OPTIONS:
==============
FREE Acrobat Reader -- view, comment, print & sign PDF.
https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/pdf-reader.html

Paid Acrobat Pro -- the complete solution for creating and saving PDF.
https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/acrobat-pro.html

Photoshop Elements or Premiere Elements (3 year license, no subscription needed).
https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html

Creative Cloud Photography 
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography.html

Creative Cloud Bundles & Single Apps for mobile, web & desktops
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

[animaatn]

What could possibly go wrong?  🙄

By @Nancy OShea

Well, nothing actually (except the activation process). The software itself (trial period) still works like a charm 🙂

[Julian375578873js1]

Deine Sorge ist begründet. Ich rate dringlich davon ab, Versionen von CS6 oder älter zu deaktivieren! Es wird nie wieder funktionieren, egal, was Dir erzählt oder versprochen wird. 

[kglad]

@animaatn 

deactivating AND conveying that to adobe's servers is far from easy.  it is by far the most difficult part of the process.

if you see an excess activation count after deactivating, you are confirming that paragraph.

if you don't see an excess activation count, you can always use offline activation:

disconnect the installed computer from the internet

Launch the product.

At the Serial Number Validation screen, click Having Trouble Connecting To The Internet.

Click Offline Activation and click Generate a Response Code.

Write down the Request Code.

Switch to an online computer and navigate to www.adobe.com/go/getactivated.

Click Offline Activation.

Sign in with your Adobe ID.

Enter your Request code and click Generate.

Write down the Response code.

Switch back to the offline computer.

Enter the Response Code and click Activate.

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/serial-number-validation-launching-cs6.html

[animaatn]

deactivating AND conveying that to adobe's servers is far from easy.

Thanks so far! So do you think, my old computer maybe didn't deactivate at all? Even, if there was an "Deactivation Successful" screen? I'm trying to figure out, if my old or my new coputer causes the issue ...

if you don't see an excess activation count, you can always use offline activation

I don't see an excess activation count, but my license doesn't seem to include offline activation, unfortunately. I tried to trigger it, disconnecting my computer, but it didn't offer me the offline option, just insiting to connect to the internet ...

[kglad]

the problem is when you deactivate on a computer, it deactivates locally (no problem), but conveying that deactivation to adobe's servers is the problem.

you can confirm by trying to open an app on your old computer.  if it's deactivated, see if you can activate it.

[animaatn]

No, the old computer also says 'already in use by the maximum computers'. So the communication to the activation servers seems to work this way around - for activation. But not for deactivation, while pretending so: fake-confirming deactivation and disabling a computer that remais 'activated' on the licence counter ... do I get this right? Are the activation servers shredding valid licences this way ...?

I meanwhile managed to trigger offline activation on the new computer (by completely re-installing CS6 in offline mode following this tutorial). But offline activation finally confirmed: '2' activated computers already ...

So - what's the 'difficult' way for deactivation? Is there still a chance to actually deactivate my already fake-deactivated computer? And is there a safe way to actually deactivate my other old computer?

[kglad]

deactivation has failed.  

but. why you can't reactivate on the old computer that was activated, i dont know.

you can use a non-activated install for 30 days. that can be extended indefinitely, but not easily.

[kglad]

@Julian375578873js1 

you're partially correct and partially incorrect.  you're correct to caution others about deactivating a working version, but you're incorrect about it being impossible to re-activate.

[Julian375578873js1]

Ich bin immer gerne bereit zu differenzieren. In meinem Fall ist es leider trotzdem bislang unmöglich, CS5.5 zu reaktivieren. Die Option zur offline-Aktivierung wird bei mir gar nicht angeboten (siehe Screenshots). 

Zum Hintergrund: Meine Lizenz erlaubt die Aktivierung auf zwei Computern. Eines Tages - das ist mittlerweile fast ein Jahr her - wurde ohne Vorwarnung und ohne irgendeine Aktion meinerseits die Lizenz gelöscht. Ich habe versucht, CS5.5 neu zu installieren, was nicht gelang. Seither kann ich nichts mehr machen, weder deaktivieren noch reaktivieren - obwohl es dieselben Computer sind.

[kglad]

you have to disconnect your computer from the internet to be offered offline activation.  but that won't help you because you have an excess activation count and that requires the (difficult) step of deactivation in order to enable activation.

[Jeffrey_A_Wright]

@animaatn thanks for posting your question about managing your activations for Creative Suite 6 to this public discussion forum. Please see https://community.adobe.com/t5/download-install-discussions/activation-limit-reached-for-non-subscri... for details on how to manage any remaining Creative Suite 6 activations in 2025.

[animaatn]

Thanks so far! So which computer you think does need further treatment - the old or the new one? I already saw a 'Deactivation Successfull' screen on the old computer - can I rely on that or may the deativation (despite the success screen) havn't reached Adobe servers at all?

[Jeffrey_A_Wright]

No, there is no way to know if it was successful except to try activating on the new computer, Animaatn. The deactivation message will be displayed regardless of whether the computer was able to contact our servers or not.

If you have already deactivated, and are still receiving a message that the activation has been exceeded, then you will need to find a new solution for your creative needs in 2025, Animaatn. ^JW

[animaatn]

But I should be able to re-activate the old computer, that actually never got deactivated on the server side, right? And if the server communication works this way again, deactivation should also work then, right?

[kglad]

it was deactivated locally. but unless the hardware changed since the original activation on that old computer, it should activate without registering as a different computer.

[animaatn]

But what is a 'significant hardware change'? I may have added another SSD drive, enabled BitLocker encryption on the Windows partition and exchanged the graphics card ...

And should the computer be recognised and activated again, if I manage to restore the original hardware setup ...?

[kglad]

the ssd is a definite hardware change and so is the graphics card change.  each/both would trigger that old computer to be recognized as different.

bit locker might cause a problem.  

that explains why you can't reactivate on that old computer.

[Jeffrey_A_Wright]

@kglad is correct, @animaatn, about his description of the activation technology used by Acrobat X.

This is part of the reason we moved to a subscription model. It allows more flexibility in using the licenses. The licensing technology utilized in the current releases of Acrobat is utterly different from that used by Acrobat X and is designed for use in 2025.

[animaatn]

I see the benefits of the subscription model. I used CC a lot as an employee and I may use it project related on my own. But having a permanent license at home of the tools you're used to, also for private and everyday's tasks is a different kind of working. Obviously CS6 managed to keep my affinity to Adobe products alive till this day. And to be perfectly honest, I already own permanent licenses of more recent packages, I just have been to lazy jet, to change some of my habits.

So retiring CS6 means for me, to move the rest of my everyday's workflows to competitor packages that are offering permanent licenses (which I already own). And getting more used to these workflows also will make it more likely that I'm going to use them on future projects instead of CC. That's the reason why the big game engines are for free to small artists: affinity.

I didn't expect CS6 to run forever, but it's frustrating how functional software (with a valid license) is being cut without proper announcement, just because of dysfunctional activation infrastructure.

Thanks again for your answers nevertheless - that's much more helpful than chatting the AI assistant! I will take a closer look at the required steps to consider deactivation of my other 'old' computer ... to keep my Adobe affinity alive for a few more years ... 🙂