Finding serial and installing up to 20 times for after effects cs3

[pepperrice]

Can someone please tell me if I can:

- find my serial for after effects cs3 by deactivating it on my original hd without checking the box for "erase my serial number from this computer" and then installing it on a new hd in the same mac?

as described on:

http://indesignsecrets.com/help-ive-lost-my-serial-number.php

- another question is, can I install (deactivate & re activate) after effects cs3 up to 20 times?

as described on:

http://indesignsecrets.com/cs3-activation-limits.php

[kglad]

if it's still installed on a pc, use belarc advisor to recover http://www.belarc.com

otherwise, if you downloaded that from adobe, check your account https://www.adobe.com/account.html

[pepperrice]

Thanks, but I don't have a PC, so I can't use belarc

And i don't know the account under which cs3 got downloaded if it was downloaded...

[kglad]

with your serial number, i'm not aware of any limit on the number of non-concurrent installations/activations as long as you have less than 3 activations at any one time.

without your serial number you cannot activate, at all.

[pepperrice]

Thank you.

How can I find out if the "unchecking the box for erase my serial number" method would work? I'm scared to try it if it might not show me my serial after I deactivate.

I'm trying to connect with adobe per chat because they don't seem to have a tech support phone #... but chat is also unavailable...

[kglad]

i know nothing about that method.

[ssprengel]

The first thing you should do is look up on Adobe's site and see if you can find the serial number in the My Products section of your profile.  If not, then try to register the software on the old computer before deactivating or uninstalling.  That should transmit your serial number to Adobe and you can look it up at adobe.com in the My Products section of your Adobe profile.

If trying to register doesn't work, then my reading of that webpage suggests that when you uninstall and DON'T ERASE the serial number, when you reinstall on the same hard-drive, the serial number will be found automatically.  The serial number is apparently stored encrypted somewhere on the hard-drive so if you install to the same hard-drive it'll be found, but if you to install on a new hard-drive that encrypted information would no longer be available so you'd have to type in the serial number.

So, to find your serial number using the method described on that webpage, uninstall without erasing the serial number, then immediately reinstall to the same, old hard drive and the activation wizard should show you the serial number as it shows on that webpage.  Once you see the serial number, write it down and/or copy-paste it into a document, and use it to install on the new hard-drive, after uninstalling from the old one, again.

You can generally install Adobe software on up to two computers simultaneously--like a work computer and a laptop that you might use while away from work.  Because you can deactivate on one computer and reactivate on another, Adobe has also put a limit on the total number of activations for a serial number, to keep someone from using the software on many computers by deactivating and reactivating every time they use it somewhere else.  At one point in the past Adobe limited things to 20 total activations, but nowadays, they probably just watch how you are using and activating the software and limit you if they feel you're trying to get around their single-user 2-computer licensing scheme, and the limit may not be exactly 20.  If you do run into the 20 activation limit, you might be able to get them to reset that by calling or chatting with customer service, but they may tell you that your old version is no longer supported, or they may tell you No for some other reason.

[pepperrice]

Thanks guys for all your help.

I was able to chat with adobe in the meantime, and they actually told me the method described in the article would not work. They just kept saying there is no way the serial would be displayed at the application relaunch after deactivating it on the same HD.

I find it weird, though, that the check box description is like this:

"Erase my serial number from this computer after deactivation completes. I will reenter it if I decide to reactivate later. (You may want to do this if you are giving this computer, but not the software, to another person.)"

It sounds like if I don't erase the serial, then I would not have to reenter it at reactivation. Am I wrong? adobe says if I try this, not only will I not be able to find the serial, but I will also not be able to reactivate on the same hd because I will not know the serial.

Anyone actually tried this with after effects on a mac?

I can't register my product (keeps giving me an error) or find info under my profile