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EagerBob
EagerBob
Participant
October 30, 2013
Answered

Cannot (re)-active CS3, Adobe does not help

  • October 30, 2013
  • 4 replies
  • 25693 views

Hello All,

My wife has a macbook running Photoshop CS3 and Illustrator CS3. These are not part of the CS but applications that were bought separately. They still work and are perfectly fine for the work that needs to be done.

The Macbook crashed yesterday so I re-installed OS X from a time machine backup. I was not able to de-activate the software before restoring the system.

Now that the computer is fixed, both applications ask to activate before you can open them. Activating over the internet does not work due to an "connection error". I tried activating over the phone but that does not work either. You are then transfered to an automated message saying that Adobe no longer "supports activation issues over the phone".

A website address was given (adobe.com/go/activation) where no solution is found.

I then started a live chat with support. The support person could see that the software was properly registered, and that both serial numbers have an activation remaining. But he did not help me with activation, since Adobe "only supports current products". Advice was given to look into the forums, or to use my CS3 to purchase a Creative Cloud subscription, which we do not need or want.

So Adobe leaves us in the cold with their software were they choose to put restrictions on to protect it from piracy but that are now preventing the legitimate user to continue using it.

My question: what to do to get both Photoshop and Illustrator running again?

Thanks

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer thewhitedog

    Followup 2: On a hunch, I copied the Client folder from the Version Cue CS4 folder into the Version Cue CS3 folder and changed the name from 4.0.0 to 3.0.0. Surprise, it works. Apparently there aren't enough differences in the contents of the folder to bother Illustrator CS3.

    Still, the question remains, why didn't the CS3 Web Premium installer include a Version Cue Client folder? And why, way back in 2007 when I first installed and used Illustrator CS3 did the same problem not arise? I should mention it again that CS3 Web Premium would not install off of the original DVD this time around. It had all sorts of problems, including a demand for the CS4 Web Premium disc. I had to go online and get the download version, which worked without the same problems—other than the ones I'm discussing here.

    There actually is a Version Cue CS3 Client dmg file in the Payloads folder. I expanded it and copied the included Client folder to the Adobe folder in Applications support, replacing the CS4 Client copy. But it is incomplete and Illustrator generated the same missing component error message. So I had to restore the CS4 Client copy.

    Other apps in the CS3 suite work without a problem, including Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks.


    Followup 3: I worked on my friend's Mac today, following the steps, with a few variations, that worked for me. She's using an old 17" Macbook Pro running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard.

    To begin with I tried to uninstall Adobe CS3 Design Premium. She did not have an Adobe Installers folder from which I could launch the Add or Remove Adobe Creative Suite CS3... app. So I tried to use her CS3 installer to do it. As on my system, it failed.

    So I used the CS3Clean Script (Adobe - Adobe CS3Clean Script) to do the uninstall. Be warned, this script is extremely thorough. Follow the instructions carefully if you need to use it. It ran OK on her system, Snow Leopard. It will not run on mine, OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks.

    Then I prepared to run the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool (Use the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems), restarting the computer after uninstalling CS3. This, too, should be used carefully. The only item I needed to remove was the hosts file. After this I installed CS3, not from her CS3 DVD, which probed problematic, as mine did, but with the Adobe CS3 Design Premium installer Adobe makes available, along with other CS3 Studio versions, at Advanced solutions to connection errors with Adobe Creative Cloud and Creative Suite applications.

    After the installation finished, I launched Illustrator CS3. The same "expired" message appeared, but this time when I tried to reauthorize the suite, the web connection worked and the authorization succeeded. As on my system a message appeared saying that registration failed do to the lack of a connection, but this registration is not critical to using CS3 so I clicked Never Register, the dialog disappeared and Illustrator continued to launch as expected. There was no fatal error, as I experienced, so apparently the Design Premium installer included the Version Cue Client files that Web Premium did not (see Followup 2 above).

    I cannot speak for anyone else posting here, but this procedure has worked for me now on two different systems. It took me nearly a week to gather the necessary information, or rather, for that information to be put forward by Jeff Wright. Thanks, Jeff. The process was arduous, with much confusion and many misdirects, but, as they say, all's well that ends well. I hope others having similar problems will find this summary useful. Be sure and let us know if you do—or if you do not.

    4 replies

    T
    thewhitedog
    Inspiring
    April 17, 2016

    Bob, are you following the discussion you started here? With the help of Jeff Wright I believe I've found the solution you've been looking for. But we won't know until and unless you and others are able to reproduce my results—the successful reactivation of Adobe CS3. Please let us know.

    A
    Anonymous
    April 11, 2016

    I am having the same trouble reloading CS2.  When I updated to Windows 10 I lost the program and cannot get it reinstalled and no help from Adobe.  I have been

    at this for 3 days and am mad!!  All they care about now is selling something new and not supporting old even though it can still be used for what I need.

    John Waller
    Community Expert
    John WallerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 11, 2016

    Adobe supports CS2.

    You must now download a special, non-activation version from

    Error: "Activation Server Unavailable" | CS2, Acrobat 7, Audition 3‌

    Install then enter the special, non-activation serial number provided at that link. Your existing serial number will not work.

      lfinlinson
      lfinlinson
      Participant
      April 3, 2015

      I just had this same issue, maybe this will help someone. I spent two hours "talking" to tech support (which honestly was mostly time spent waiting in various queues as they transferred me around) and was told multiple times CS3 is not compatible with Windows 8, even when I called BS. I've been using CS3 on this computer for over two years. I was then told to check the forums (I'd already checked.) Maddening there's not other way to activate, by the way. The phone option would be great in cases like this. Anyway, long story short, we fixed it today and it was simple for us.

      When attempting to activate my software I got the following error:  "Activation - No Connection" followed by options to retry, phone in activation or change my internet settings.

      I have software on my computer called "Net Nanny." It's a web filtering/malware monitoring type software. I disabled it temporarily and Photoshop activated like normal.

      Good luck!

        T
        thewhitedog
        Inspiring
        April 10, 2016

        I downgraded my router firewall and turned off Little Snitch (on my Mac), but that does not appear to be the source of the trouble for me. I reinstalled CS3 Web Premium on my Mac running OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks. I have a legitimate serial number, but there is no longer a registration server available for CS3, nor is there an operational phone number. Unlike CS2, Adobe does not appear to have made registration free versions of CS3 available. As others have observed, Adobe support is useless for older versions of their products. So I am stuck on the registration page with a set of boxes for an Authorization Code and no way to acquire such a code. The page reports my serial number and an activation number, so I know the product is legitimate. All Adobe support could suggest was coming to these forums, but no one here seems to know how to dredge up an authentication code either. I'm clearly not the only one who thinks Adobe is screwing us over here, trying to push us into paying for a Creative Cloud subscription by breaking CS3. If they can't be bothered enabling us to register or re-register CS3, then the least they could do is offer registration free versions of the CS3 suites. Adobe seems determined to destroy as much of their brand equity with long-time users as they can. They're clearly telling us they couldn't care less about us. If we cannot afford Creative Cloud, then we can go suck. Needless to say, the feeling is mutual.

          T
          thewhitedog
          Inspiring
          April 11, 2016

          Let's be clear about what Adobe is doing here. They are no longer willing to make their apps available to average consumers, low level creatives and small businesses on a tight budget—which is most small businesses. If you're not a big fish with deep pockets, Adobe isn't interested in you. It doesn't matter how long you've been using Adobe products or how much you have paid for them over the years. If you ain't got the scratch for a Creative Cloud subscription now, they couldn't care less. Customer loyalty is of no value to them. These days Adobe is all about the cloud. If you don't need or want the cloud, Adobe doesn't need or want you. I've been using Photoshop since version 2.5; I'm not a newbie here. So I write this with deep regret, both for what I've lost and for what Adobe has become.

          The only major product they still support—reluctantly—on the desktop is Adobe Lightroom. How long that will remain the case is anyone's guess.

          [promotion removed by Moderator]

          So the market in graphic design applications is now stratified, with Adobe claiming most of the high-end and the low end open to a variety of relative newcomers. Creative Cloud has stabilized Adobe's income stream at the same time it is shedding market share. Obviously that suits Adobe just fine. What suits us they neither know nor care. What we choose to do about it remains to be seen.

            Noel Carboni
            Noel Carboni
            Legend
            October 30, 2013

            It seems to me Adobe needs to support the activation of their prior sold software forever.  There's really not much that folks in the forums can do to help you activate your copy, save for suggest things like uninstalling and reinstalling.

            Speaking of which...  Did you reinstall the Adobe software on the computer?  You didn't really say whether the OSX install left applications where they were.  A full uninstall and reinstall via this process/program (ignore its name) might help:

            http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

            Also, recreation of a user account might have left you with permissions issues with files that were already on the system.

            -Noel

            EagerBob
            EagerBobAuthor
            Participant
            October 30, 2013

            It seems to me Adobe needs to support the activation of their prior sold software forever.

            Exactly, that is what you'd think. Either that or remove the need for activation for their older applications altogether, letting you use just your serial to run the software.

            I did not de-install and re-install the software. It was put back to the machine by Time Machine.

            I will try that, see if I can find that disks somewhere...

            Thanks for the link

            J
            J453
            Legend
            October 30, 2013

            AFAIK - we do support activation for CS3.

            We did retire our activation server for CS1 and CS2, and those customers are provided with a new version of the software that doesn't authenticate with the server and serializes locally.

            Can you DM with your Adobe ID and the two serials you're having trouble with? You mention support said there were activations remaining, so I'm not clear on what's going wrong (what the exact error is you're getting)

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