I can no longer activate my CS6. Why, and what can I do about it?

[defaultcu6yupnb2q4l]

I purchased Adobe CS6 Master Collection Mac in February of 2013 for $2,133 (I can furnish the sales receipt and order number) and I have been using CS6 ever since. In the years since 2013, whenever I upgraded to a better computer, or replaced a defective computer, I have always been able to install CS6 on it and activate it with the serial number provided.

Last week my Mac Pro failed (dead power supply most likely), and since there is no economical way to repair it, I replaced it with another one. I used my CS6 DVDs to install CS6 on the replacement computer, as I have done before in other such cases. But this time, when I typed in the license number, instead of the software being activated I was presented with an Adobe web page that informed me that my serial number is invalid, and that and I may be trying to register pirated software.

I would like to know what caused this error, and what can be done to correct it. How can I activate my CS6 software, please?

Sincerely,

Tom Baker

Tijeras, New Mexico

TELEPHONE REMOVED

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[John T Smith]

Did you always DE-activate to make the serial number available?

When you can't deactivate a serial number
BE SURE TO ONLY ASK FOR ACTIVATION SUPPORT TO ADJUST YOUR ACTIVATION COUNT
You may need to PERSIST or TRY AGAIN to find a support agent with more experience

Be sure to remain signed in with your Adobe ID before accessing the link
Do be aware that Adobe's staffing is impacted by the virus, so wait times are long
-make sure that your browser does NOT block ads, scripts, or pop-ups
-you must also allow 'cookies' in your web browser for the link to work
This link will go directly to the chat option
Type "Agent" in the chat box to bypass the chatbot and be connected to a person
-Meaning type in the word Agent without the quote " " marks
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen

[defaultcu6yupnb2q4l]

Thanks much for the help, John. I appreciate it. I hesitated to bother you, but I'd sure like to get this problem resolved.

No, I never de-activated anything--I don't even know how to do it. I'll have to look into it and learn how, if I ever get my CS6 activated again. I guess you can tell that I'm not very computer literate when it comes right down to it. I'm an old dog (70) and not terribly knowledgeable in these matters, but trying to learn.

I have Apple software (for example Final Cut Studio) that activates with serial numbers, just like CS6, but it never gets onto the Internet to do it. Final Cut just detects when another copy of it is running on our home network and won't open on a different computer if it is. I guess I mindlessly assumed that CS programs did something similar, and forgot entirely that the activation was over the Internet, and Adobe was obviously counting the times I did it (probably another symptom of getting old). But I got a jolting reminder of it when I last tried to activate CS6 and suddenly saw my Internet browser jump to an Adobe webpage telling me that I might be trying to activate pirated software with an invalid serial serial number.

Yes, I do have ad and pop-up blockers on my Internet browser, Firefox, which I will now deactivate, and I'll make sure it's accepting cookies too. I'll have to take notes and remember these things you're telling me, and thanks again for the info.

I'll now follow your above advice to the letter and continue trying to get this problem straightened out. It appears, as you said, that I need to get a reset on the software-activation count, and if successful in that, in the future to be sure to de-activate CS6 before re-activating it elsewhere.

Thanks again for the info and help!

Tom

[defaultcu6yupnb2q4l]

John, when I click on that link it takes me to a page with the header: "Welcome to Adobe Customer Care! Need help?"

In the lower right corner of the page is a speech balloon symbol that I assume is the chat box. When I click on that, I get a blue window (screenshot attached). The message in the window tells me to "contact my administrator," as though I'm a member of an organization. Nowhere in that box can I type anything, unless I'm missing something.

Is that really the chat box? If it is, how can I make it respond to me as an individual and not a corporation?

Thanks!

Tom

[Nancy OShea]

Was CS6 registered to you personally or to an organization?

Did you purchase it directly from Adobe or a 3rd party seller?

Non-genuine software is a major problem, particularly for people who purchased from disreputable sellers who unlawfully obtained volume licenses and sold them to unsuspecting individuals.  Eventually the illegal licenses were revoked.  This may be what happened in your case, I don't know.

You can contact Adobe if you want to but honestly, there's nothing anybody can do if your license was revoked.

CONTACT ADOBE SUPPORT:
================
Online Chat: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen
Phone M-F, during normal business hours: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html

[defaultcu6yupnb2q4l]

Thanks for the reply, Nancy, and the links. I appreciate your taking the time to help me.

I bought the CS6 Master Collection from Amazon.com on Feb. 20, 2013, and it has never been out of my home since then (below I have attached a screen shot of the Amazon receipt showing the date, the order number, and the price--$2,129). I received the package from Amazon in a sealed plastic wrapper from the manufacturer, and I was the first and only person to ever open the box and register the software.

If somehow Adobe's records show this software as belongng to some sort of an organization, it is an error.

All I can possibly think of was that in those days I was doing commercial aerial photography, and I registered myself in Santa Fe's business office, for tax purposes, as Baker Aero Works, since they required that you give yourself a business name for their records. That is not an organization, however, that's just me, personally. It could be that I typed Baker Aero Works into one of the information boxes along with my name when I first registered the software, although I don't know why I would do that, except maybe absent-mindedly.

Anyway, I have no evidence that this software license has been revoked.  I just can't activate it on my computer anymore, the way I always used to be able to do whenever I changed computers, as I'm doing right now, and I'm trying to figure out why. If Adobe has somehow registered me as an organization instead of an individual, how do I correct that error?

I suspect, from what has been said here, that all I need is a reset in the software activation count, since I foolishly never de-activated the software whenever I changed computers or hard drives since 2013. What I would do (as I did yesterday) is just discard the old hardware and install CS6 on the new. John, above, suggested that I get into the Chat box and talk to an Agent, but the box won't allow me to do that. How can I fix things so that the Chat box will allow me to communicate with someone?

Meanwhile, I will also try the phone number that you provided me, and thanks much for the help!

Tom

[defaultcu6yupnb2q4l]

I bought CS6 in 2013 because I had become acquainted with an elderly man who turned out to be one of America’s aviation pioneers, yet was little known. He was 96 years old, but his mind was still sharp, and I recorded his memories as he related them to me and created a manuscript from them.

A friend told me that Adobe InDesign could turn a manuscript into book form, so I bought CS6 mainly to get InDesign, even though two thousand dollars was a lot of money to me then (and still is now). However InDesign came through for me with flying colors and I found Photoshop useful for adjusting and sizing the pictures and maps... 

[Irrelevant self-promotion removed by moderator as per forum guidelines.]

So Adobe InDesign and Photoshop are really the only parts of CS6 that I use, but I have found them indispensible.  I would like to revise the book to add in this new material. But I can’t do that unless I can re-activate CS6 in my computer.

I’m telling you all this, as well as furnishing my sales receipt for CS6 (previous message), because the few people that I’ve been able to communicate with so far at Adobe keep asking how I came by my copy of it, rather suspiciously it seems to me, as though I might have acquired it illegitimately, and because when I tried to activate the software the other day after switching computers I was presented with an Adobe webpage telling me that my registration number was invalid and that I might be trying to register pirated software. And also to show that I am just me, an individual, and not some corporation as Adobe's records seem to think.

In trying to get my problem communicated to Adobe, the company’s live chat feature to which I’ve been repeatedly directed informs me that I’m a corporation instead of an individual, for some reason, and since it’s impossible for me to type anything into that box, there doesn’t seem to be any way I can correct the error or chat with anyone.

This is all very frustrating, but I guess that all I can do is keep trying to make my case to Adobe in order to get my software activated again. I don’t know what else to do.

Tom Baker

[John T Smith]

I wish I could help, but there is nothing else I can suggest

I bought CS5 Master Collection when I worked for a University, but I used my PERSONAL email for the order and registration and activation, with no mention of the University except as proof of status to qualify for the special price

As I have built new computers I did know to DE-activate before wiping the old computer to sell or give away, so I have never had a problem with a new activation being denied

Hopefully you will "someday" connect with a support agent who will be able to get you registered as an individual, not a business

[defaultcu6yupnb2q4l]

Thank you agan, John, for the encouragement. I guess I'm to blame for not de-activating the software whenever I changed computers or hard drives since 2013, before reactivating CS6 on the new hardware.

I don't see why, though, when someone comes up on the limit of his activation times, as I must have done, some sort of a message from Adobe doesn't pop up warning you to either de-activate the software elsewhere first, or be denied. If I had seen a message like that, I could have done what I was supposed to do and all would be well now.

I guess I have no choice now but to keep trying to make contact with someone at Adobe who might be able to fix this problem--after convincing them somehow that I'm not a corporation. That's why I brought up my books: corporations don't write history books, individual authors do.

Thanks again.

Tom

[Nancy OShea]

3rd party resellers often sell products on Amazon.  There's no way to know who you actually bought it from without the original invoice/packing slip.  Also a sealed box means nothing.  Fake software looked exactly like the real thing.  Piracy is one reason Adobe and other software makers stopped selling boxed disks. Good luck!

[defaultcu6yupnb2q4l]

Thanks again, Nancy. But didn't Adobe authorize Amazon to sell their software back then? A lot of people were buying it from Amazon just like I did. It doesn't seem likely to me that a high-profile company like Amazon would be blatantly selling pirated stuff--Adobe would have sued them if they'd tried. If producing an Amazon receipt is not considered proof that I have a legitmate copy of CS6, then I guess I don't really have any proof.

I was thinking: since I only really use Photoshop and InDesign out of the CS6 suite, I wonder whether stand-alone versions of these programs, new or used, could still be bought somewhere, such as Ebay?  Even if they were, though, what would be the chances of my not being able to activate them after I bought them?

Anyway I'm not at that point yet, still hoping to get my problem solved by Adobe. I haven't given up yet.

I appreciate your information!

Tom

[Nancy OShea]

Tom,

I purchased bogus software on Amazon once.  But it came from a 3rd party seller whom I had to chase down later for a refund.  Amazon is a worldwide marketplace for sellers big & small.  Some items come directly from Amazon (Prime discount) and others come from 3rd parties.  Without a packing slip & invoice, you'll never know who you really dealt with.

But this all a moot point.  Either your CS license from 2013 is valid or it's not valid.  And fellow product users in this forum can't help you with that.  Use the links below to check your number.

https://account.adobe.com/products

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/volume-licensing-site.html

Auction sites are rife with cracked, malware infected copies of popular software titles. Scammers will say anything to get your money / credit card data.  BUYER BEWARE!!!  If you go down that slippery slope despite the risks it poses to you and your computer, at least  make sure the seller completes a License Transfer of Ownership Form.  NOTE:  1) Seller must have a registered license number.  2) Education & OEM editions cannot be transferred.  See link below for more details.

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/transfer-product-license.html

The safest option is to is to get modern software directly from the software maker.  If you can't spring for a Creative Cloud subscription plan, then look at Affinity suite. Although not perfect, at least it's legitimate.  https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/

[Nancy OShea]

Creative Suite is not sold legally in any country now.  Beware of fake Adobe reps who may contact you privately offering to sell you software or take control of your computer. It's a scam, run away!  Real Adobe staff will NEVER reach out via Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, or Skype.
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