Activation failed for CS3

[bobc49536789]

I am trying to activate my software  for CS3 web premium.  I entered the serial number, but did not have my previous version upgrade number.  Adobe does not have it in file either, but used a secret hack challenge/response to bypass that and take me to the activation screen.  Then the activation failed with error code 194:3   They told me to come here for help.

HEEELLPPPPPPPPP

I NEED to get this software running.   What do I do now ???  What does this error code mean ?

[kglad]

if you can select cs2 as your upgrade, try the posted cs2 serial number, Error: Activation Server Unavailable | CS2, Acrobat 7, Audition 3

[bobc49536789]

Thanks.  I MAY try that. But I have a valid serial number for CS3, so would really like to solve this last step before uninstalling CS3 and downloading CS2, etc.

[Jeff A Wright]

Bobc49536789 indicates a failure of the licensing system.  What prompted the need to reinstall Creative Suite 3? Any details you can provide would be appreciated.

[bobc49536789]

Had a system crash and complete restore about three years ago. I did not care about Adobe at that point.  Recent life changes cause me to need to gain access to dreamweaver and have a version of photoshop. for self-education.  Nothing recent, no software failures or anything.

When I started this process, I first installed just Dreamweaver CS3 since that was all I needed and I had the install package on my computer. .  The serial number would  not work.  Then I deleted it, rebooted, and reinstalled the latest version at direction of customer service. That also did not work.  Then I tried Photoshop, which also failed.  Then I decided maybe I had to install the full version of CS3 Web Premium for serial number to work.  So I uninstalled them again. Rebooted, and then downloaded and installed CS3 Web Premium. Serial number worked, and that is where I am now ((plus info entered in original post).

[Jeff A Wright]

Bobc49536789 ok thank you for those details that makes complete sense.  I would recommend completing all of the steps listed in Use the CC Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems | CC, CS3-CS6 - http://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs5-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html.  This includes using the uninstallers located in the Applications/Utilities/Adobe Installers folder.

If you need a fresh copy of the retail installation files they are available at Download CS3 products.

[bobc49536789]

Okay Thank you very much.  I hope you are right. .  Wish me luck that I do not need to call customer service again for a new bypass code.  That took 90 minutes last time. .  I will report results later tonight,

[bobc49536789]

Nothing is ever easy these days.  But now I have this log file from the cleanup process, and am uncertain if this is real error messages or good that it cant find files to delete.  Please advise.

ps:  I have no problem with uninstalling the Adobe Postscript Reader, manually deleting every Adobe directory (both programs and common) and then reinstalling the reader once I get this working.

Log file follows

******************************************************

Gen_WWCombined-en_US-20121017_1230

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:08 2015] Please enter (y) for Yes or (n) for No. ... >>

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] Choose from one of the following options to clean up :

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 1.  All

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 2.  Adobe Flash Player 10.2

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 3.  Creative Cloud 2014 , Creative Cloud & CS6 Products

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 4.  Creative Cloud 2014 only

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 5.  Creative Cloud only

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 6.  CS6 only

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 7.  CS5-CS5.5-CS6

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 8.  CS5-CS5.5

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 9.  CS3, CS4

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 10.  Adobe Id credentials

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] 11.  Quit

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:12 2015] Choice 😆

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] User selected: All

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] DB does not exist at: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\caps\pdb.db

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] DB does not exist at: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\caps\Media_db.db

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] Opened DB connection with path: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\caps\caps.db

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] List of products installed on this machine

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] Listing products for cleanup:

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] Please enter the option number of the product you wish to remove; enter (q) to quit ... >>

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:33 2015] Are you sure you want to clean all the listed products and associated files?

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:33 2015] Type (y) to confirm and remove or (n) to quit ... >>

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Please wait for Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to finish........

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] :: Cleaning-up left over inventories ::

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Atleast one Non-RIBS Inventory : False, Atleast one AAMRef: False

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] ::Start:: Removing AUM contents

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Deleting registry root:HKLM key:Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run value:AdobeAAMUpdater-1.0

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Exception during deleting key : (2, 'RegDeleteValue', 'The system cannot find the file specified.')

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Deleting registry root:HKLM key:Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run value:ADOBE_UPDATER_STARTUP_UTILITY

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Exception during deleting key : (2, 'RegDeleteValue', 'The system cannot find the file specified.')

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Deleting scheduled task : AdobeAAMUpdater-1.0-MEDIA-BOB-user

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Executing command: schtasks /delete /TN "AdobeAAMUpdater-1.0-MEDIA-BOB-user" /F

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] ERROR: The specified task name "AdobeAAMUpdater-1.0-MEDIA-BOB-user" does not exist in the system.

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Deleting scheduled task : AdobeUpdater Task-MEDIA-BOB-user

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Executing command: schtasks /delete /TN "AdobeUpdater Task-MEDIA-BOB-user" /F

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] ERROR: The specified task name "AdobeUpdater Task-MEDIA-BOB-user" does not exist in the system.

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] ::Finish:: Removing AUM contents

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] ::Start:: Removing OOBE

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Executing command "taskkill /F /FI "IMAGENAME eq AAM Updates Notifier.exe""

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] INFO: No tasks running with the specified criteria.

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] ::Finish:: Removing OOBE

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Removing content of Product : CS5Installer, Version : CS5

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] File does not exist: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\caps\pdb.db

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] File does not exist: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\caps\Media_db.db

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] LOG FILE SAVED TO: C:\DOCUME~1\user\LOCALS~1\Temp\Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool.log

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool completed successfully

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015]

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] *-*-*-*-*-*- ::START:: - SUMMARY OF Warnings -*-*-*-*-*-*

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] DB does not exist at: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\caps\pdb.db

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:26 2015] DB does not exist at: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\caps\Media_db.db

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:40 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed to remove file,folder trying again

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] Warning: Failed again to remove file,folder

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] *-*-*-*-*-*- :: END :: - SUMMARY OF Warnings -*-*-*-*-*-*

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] ---------------------------------------------------------

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* :: End Session :: *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

[Fri Feb 06 01:40:41 2015] ---------------------------------------------------------

[Jeff A Wright]

The CC Cleaner Tool may provide errors if a particular file does not exist.  Were you able to reinstall Creative Suite 3 successfully?

[bobc49536789]

NO.  Same failure to activate.  arrrggghhhhhhh

[Jeff A Wright]

Bobc49536789 I am sorry if the CC Cleaner Tool did not work then I would recommend reviewing the installation logs to see if they provide any guidance.  You can find details on how to locate and interpret the product installation logs at Troubleshoot installation with install logs | CS3, CS4.

Unfortunately the relevant activation logs which would be utilized for error messaging did not exist in Creative Suite 3 and 4.  This feature was added in Creative Suite 5.

[bobc49536789]

I found some errors (kind of) related to other Adobe products on the machine.  I am going to uninstall everything I can find, then install CS3, then reinstall the flash player and postscript reader programs.   Does this sound reasonable?.  Also, could there be other remnants around of previous programs (like Dreamweaver or Photoshop) that I need to run some kind of super-cleaner program to get rid of the registry entries for ?  Once I have uninstalled every Adobe program that shows up in control panel, can I just delete the adobe directories in Program Files ?  This takes 3 hours to uninstall and more than an hour to re-install, so I would rather not have to keep doing it over and over again.

[Jeff A Wright]

Bobc49536789 if you have used the uninstallers to remove all Adobe software titles then you should be able to safely remove any remaining folders.

[bobc49536789]

I uninstalled CC3

Reboot
I uninstalled every Adobe program, and renamed the Adobe dfirectories I found.  I evidently forgot to rename Program Files/Common Files/Adobe.

Reboot

Ran CC3 Cleaner program and chose the ALL option. - appeared to run correctly
Reboot

Installed CC3

Reboot

Ran Dreamweaver.  Same problem at Activation

I looked over the install log and see no errors.  No hits on "Return Value 3" or "FATAL".  I did find several variables named "ERROR_xxxxx" But no error messages

What now ??

Is it possible I am just getting activation failed because I never deactivated prior versions ?  It just says "failed" not anything mentioning deactivating or maximum counts or anything. I did not even know that was an issue back then, and at least one of these prior installs was on a disc failure.

[Jeff A Wright]

Bobc49536789 the error still indicates a failure in the licensing sub-system.  Most likely it is due to the use of the System restore feature.  I re-reviewed this discussion but I did not see a reference to which version of Windows precisely are you using?  Is it 32-bit or 64-bit?

[bobc49536789]

I am on WIndows XP

To be precise  Media Center Edition  Service Pack 3  (from  an "About WIndows" screen)

[bobc49536789]

WINdows XP 32 bit.  I just realized there was a 64 bit XP... 

I am on 32 bit.

[Jeff A Wright]

Bob I don't have easy access to Windows XP.  At minimum I would recommend removing C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\ prior to trying to reinstall again.  I was able to find Remove Creative Suite 3 and CS3 products but it discusses the process which you have already utilized.

The only other suggestion I have would be to try installing a newly created local Administrator account.  You can find more details at https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/troubleshoot-unexpected-behavior-user-account-1.html.

[bobc49536789 · Accepted solution]

Well I think I am running now.  Thanks for all your help.  I am not sure what did it though.

I deleted EVERYTHING  as we discussed. 
I also reinstalled it under a new admin account.

But then I needed to contact customer support for help bypassing the upgrade serial number issue again.  And they gave me a new serial number instead.

So it could have been any of those three things that got me working.  Thanks for your help.

[Jeff A Wright]

Excellent Bob.  Thank you for the update!