Pirate software alerts ever 15 minutes.

[debwarr]

Hi, I started getting alerts every 15 seconds yesterday at work about my adobe software not being genuine. It's completely distracting.

A) I've been purchasing adobe software for 28 years now. ALL of it is legitimate. Every upgrade was purchased through Adobe—by me. Ever update was manually performed through Adobe's site—by me. I'm a sole proprietor and have literally spent upwards of $10,000 from my own pocket on Adobe software and to be harassed by Adobe alerts like this is ridiculous. I cannot find anyway to turn it off.

B) I've spent hours online searching for a resolution... nothing.

I've called Adobe a dozen times but cannot get to a real person without paying money for a support contract.

I finally called Adobe sales to talk to a real adobe person and they simply say I have to upgrade to CC because they no longer support CS6. I told them I don't want product support, I want them to stop falsely accusing me of pirating, and I want these alerts off my system. Nada... he could only sell me CC.

C) I will never be going to the CC version, especially when CS6 works perfectly fine for me... I use InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat Pro, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, and a few other programs from Adobe.

– CC is WAY beyond my means of affordability. (one person here... loyal customer for 3 decades)

– I live/work rural and can only access a satellite connection: Capped Data Here!

– I will not put client work in at risk in a cloud where it can be hacked.

All of the above are givens... there's no disputing it. I don't want an adobe rep to advise me how they can use a payment plan, or how all i need to do are Dismiss the alerts. I've had to dismiss it 3 times already just writing this.

I want to know

1) Can Adobe TURN OFF THESE ALERTS?

If not:

2) Why is Adobe FALSELY ACCUSING ME OF PIRATING their software. I have proof of legitimacy, including serial numbers

3) Isn't disrupting someone 50 times—and forcing them to perform an action—AN ILLEGAL BUSINESS PRACTICE?

4) Why would Adobe spit in the face of a loytal customer they've made so so much money off of?

5) Exactly how much more money does Adobe feel is owed by a loyal customer like me?

I feel like I'm being held hostage, and some of research has referred to CS6 owners not even being allowed to reinstall their owned Adobe software. Heaven forbid I get a new computer (and toss my current computer) and need to reinstall my owned software.

I'm not looking for software support. I simply want the software I legal own to not expire on me, given that there were NO expiration dates on it's usage to begin with.

[Claire Thomas]

I again contacted Adobe by chat and the result is the same. I have a legitimate version and I will have to reinstall my programs AGAIN!!!! I have the chat transcript. AGAIN I'm super pissed!! What the hell is Adobe up to? This needs to be fixed by Adobe and not by my having to reinstall my programs every 6 MONTHS!!!

[DebbieW1964]

Claire, we are continuing to investigate and will get back to you

[brbsoup]

"Adobe will survive without your business and has absolutely no need to be deceptive as it values its good name. In the age of alternative facts it is a real problem trying to help people like you." ~ Terri

LOL, people have proof of purchases and being harassed by the software they hundreds if not thousands for, exhaust ALL option with support and sales people trying to make them dish out more, so finally come to the forum here defeated asking for help and promptly get told to suck it up, that it is their fault, and some B.S. about "alternative facts" and what a problem "people like you" are. Ridiculous. I get it, a lot of these peoples posts were a bit over the top but what do you expect after being treated like that. The fact that a Better Business Bureau complaint got the issue fixed for a user just validates their "paranoid" responses because it ended up working for them! And not even an apology or admission of being wrong from any of the completely respectable and kind and helpful "ACP" forum users (/s), just from this Terri a half dozen follow up posts trying to get people to disable the Integrity Service which won't even work LOL! Guess it took more and more people showing up to this thread before real Adobe employees took notice though. Good luck to everyone with issues, if it still all fails in the end then PM me and I can give you some more tips on how one can potentially fix this harassment (I'll only tell over private message though, I think these "ACP" pro's won't appreciate my alternative facts for fixing the issue ).

[Terri_Stevens]

You were very selective in quoting what I said and achieved what I suspect was your objective in misleading people in this thread. For the record here is what I did say to Debbie. Debbie was convinced Adobe was involved in a conspiracy to get her to upgrade to Creative Cloud and talking of moving to alternative software and so I responded as follows.

"You are getting totally paranoid with this. Nobody is lying to you or trying to make some commercial gain. You are valued as a customer but Adobe will survive without your business and has absolutely no need to be deceptive as it values its good name. In the age of alternative facts it is a real problem trying to help people like you convinced by conspiracy theories".

Debbie responded positively , unlike you, and did not take offence at what I said. In the end her problem was resolved. As a non Adobe employee my job here is to help people with problems and I did make some suggestions for workarounds as I was and still am of the belief that most people in this thread are not software thieves. However, Adobe is convinced that the software validation process is sound and detecting illegal software-a point of view I concur with, and so we need to conclude a lot of people have been tricked into buying something that was not genuine. There are plenty of scams duplicated serials, selling off seats from volume licenced software, educational software that stops working after two or three years depending on the course length at a particular school and then there is the ubiquitous Painter crack -which in fact contains malware. Don't take my word for it, check it out with a free scan on VirusTotal

For anyone contemplating brbsoup  offer of assistance can I make you aware that this person has never posted here before, as I checked the history, and is trying to point you in the direction of what I would guess is a software crack. He thinks this is an intelligent solution for honest people, but I would strongly advise against it. The software integrity service has been introduced to stop people like this OP not the average person in this thread. Work with Adobe, use the contact number and discuss it with the team, but if it turns out your software is not genuine then don't blame Adobe as crime is part of life. Think of it this way, If you bought a car just stolen from a car showroom and had it then impounded by the police, would you expect Ford, BMW or whoever to give you a replacement? Might be nice if they did but life doesn't work that way.

[brbsoup]

Terri,

Thanks for your continued kind replies. It's not a conspiracy that the only

support these people were getting was pressured sales tactics to purchase

CC, and the whole first page of this thread is verified Pro users telling

them its their fault for not purchasing new software that they dont need. I

dont need to turn this thread into a flame war, but I will leave these

comments I've made here up as the one person speaking up about how these

users were treated here, including by you before you very obviously and

abruptly changed your tone after threats of class actions and reports to

BBB were brought up.

Anyway, my C6 software works.

Cheers!

[Terri_Stevens]

Glad to hear your CS6 is working  . If I could wave a magic wand and put right all the problems people in this thread are experiencing, I would, but this is an issue that can only be solved by working with Adobe themselves. I doubt if Adobe is intimidated by threats of legal action , but I can tell you people behind the scenes do honestly wish to help. As ACPs we are encouraged to be objective and keep the company informed about what the client base is saying. We are not under instructions to be biased in favour of Adobe. To be honest Microsoft has been validating for years and when they find tampering they permanently disable and will prosecute sometimes. Adobe's approach is a lot more gentler than that you must conceed?

[brbsoup]

Okay I'm just stirring up trouble. I just was amazed at how with one

sentence on an Adobe product forum someone could make it so clear that they

voted for Hillary Clinton. But really thank you for helping and glad

everyone's problem has been or is being dealt with. [Leaving this thread

before I cause it to be locked or get a ban]

P.S. this thread is a top result on Google when searching Adobe Genuine

Software Integrity Service. Apparently disabling Adobe Genuine Software

Integrity Service as you reccomended a few times did work to stop invalid

license errors/popups for at least one user who has posted. So thanks for

the tip that disabling Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service will stop

invalid license warnings on Adobe CS6.

Cheers!

[Terri_Stevens]

You made me giggle. I'm English  I couldn't have voted for Hilary even if I had liked her policies, but on the other hand I wouldn't have supported a draft dodging lunatic like Donald J Trump either-particularly after yesterday when he said the US would pull out of the Paris Climate concord. I bet you don't know America cannot by law leave before 2020-Trump didn't mention that did he? He's clever he's pacified his readneck supporters who think he's done something he promised for once, but won't be able to deliver on it. The way things are going he'll be lucky to still be in office by 2019-maybe Vladimir Putin will offer him a job looking after the few remaining Polar Bears in Siberia once he gets out of prison or possible Happy Valley Lunatic Asylum.lol

You really should read my comments properly babes. I did mention disabling AGSIS but said I doubted if it would work as Adobe aren't stupid enough to provide an on/off switch . Yes It did seem to work for one person, but for others it does nothing.

[tserings94419823]

I am having the exact same issue!!!! I bought the latest Mac Pro from an engineer who works at intel and when I bought the laptop from him, the laptop came with bundles of pro software including the Adobe, Microsoft, final cut etc. The engineer told me that he gets a good deal on software since he works at intel and bought many of them ( the software in my computer is worth almost 3 times the value of the newest touch bar Mac Pro). Anyways, I had no doubt about the authenticity of the softwares since he gave me the paper with the license/serial number and all the other software seemed to work great. I tried using Adobe premiere pro and I get this alarming message stating that the software is not genuine. I thought I was ripped off but didn't think that the seller had bought fake softwares since he has a very reputable background. Now reading this thread and your post makes me believe that the software is GENUINE!!. I hope they stop sending these warnings because it is really disturbing and embarrassing when it pops up when I am working with a partner/client.

[Beverley Gray]

Hi tserings94419823

I would suggest you contact our support team by clicking the 'More Info' option when you get the pop up.

Kind regards

Bev

[Terri_Stevens]

You would be surprised the kind of people who engage in software piracy. It's not just kids in their bedrooms engaging in point to point sharing, but also established companies with lax control over software procurement or just people who take the view that if you can get something for nothing then why not?. I'm in England and a few years ago a national newspaper was caught using Pagemaker (it was some time ago) on all their DTP workstation-they actually got a ridiculously small fine given they make millions in profit each year.

One thing that would have made me think twice about the software you have is, why would anyone buy Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro as they do the same thing and are both expensive. Yes maybe a production house might have both distributed around many workstation, but on one  laptop? It doesn't ring true to me. I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but I suspect you may have been a victim here.

Beverley would know better than me, but you probably don't own the software on that machine as the previous owner has not completed the formal transfer of ownership forms. Certainly if you have DVDs containing Adobe programs you are not legally allowed to install them on a computer. In many respects although the transfer of ownership procedure is longwinded and time consuming it does guarantee to the buyer the software is genuine. 

[tserings94419823]

I am going to look into this. FYI, the original owner retired last year as senior engineer at Intel, so I highly doubt that he would use a pirated software. I originally thought it might have been transfer of ownership issue but reading this thread made me think otherwise. Anyways I did reach out to the original buyer and he was very adamant that the software is 100% genuine. It sounds really annoying that a super expensive bundle of software would have some kind of clause to avoid transfer in ownership when the license was registered for this laptop. Thank you beverly, I will reach out to the support team to see if anything can be resolved.

[kikujade]

Debwarr, I only registered here to answer your question, see if it might help you. I originally had the same problem as you, so I spent all day looking for a solution and I came across this thread hoping someone would have pointed out some easy fix. Or a complicated fix, anything.

Anyway, this is something that worked for me in my Windows 10 laptop. I know the Apple OS is different, but perhaps there is an equivalent to the solution I employed?

I realized that the culprit for the continuous pop-ups from the Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service was an application called "AdobeGCClient.exe" which I found in the Common Files folder (Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\AdobeGCClient). I know this may sound obvious to a lot of people, folder location, culprit, etc, BUT I figured there had to be a way to disable it (which was the not-so-obvious part). I tried disabling the service in the services.msc but to no avail. Then I happened to bring up the properties of the .exe file by right-clicking it, hoping to find a clue. I clicked on the compatibility tab and I decided to change the compatibility to run on Windows 95 option. The pop up has not returned. Somehow this seems to have disabled it.

I don't know much about the Apple OS as I mentioned before, but hopefully there is a similar feature? Anyway, I hope this helps you. Good luck.

[Terri_Stevens · Accepted solution]

Hello, I know you mean well but comments like this don't help people with the problem. Shutting down the service sometimes works temporarily, but the important thing is what happens if you ever need to re-enter your product key as it will get rejected. The thing to do is work this through with Adobe. They know the product keys they have issued and the rest are just generated by keygens. It is very unfortunate that people have bought an illegal product, but often the price was a fraction of retail and should have triggered alarm bells.

Adobe are certain their validation process works properly and I think the number of complaints about annoying pop-ups probably confirms that as only a tiny percentage of the user base are complaining. In short contact the company, get them to check if your serial is genuine and on how many computers it's registered. If there is an error then they will help you, if not then you may be offered a deal on a subscription to Creative Cloud.

[Claire Thomas]

My programs have been validated by Adobe as genuine. I've been given a NEW serial number BY ADOBE and reinstalled my programs while on the phone with the Adobe tech. That was in April. I began getting the pop-up AGAIN just days ago. Your comments are off base. Even those with LEGITIMATE (as confirmed by Adobe) versions are getting these pop-ups.

I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO CC!!!! And to me these pop-ups going to legitimate owners is a ploy to get us to switch. I'll be contacting the BBB AGAIN about this.

[Terri_Stevens]

Don't know why you are having a go at me Claire as I have not spoken with you about this. Everything I said above was accurate. If you are still getting that annoying pop up then there is something wrong either with your copy of Photoshop or your operating system. There are tens of thousands of legitimate copies of CS6 in circulation and only a handful of people experiencing problems with validation -so you need to troubleshoot why you are being affected. The serial as I understand it is not the only thing that gets checked for piracy so maybe it's your copy that has been either corrupted or deliberately modified. Did you buy CS6 from an authorised agent and pay the retail price?

[Guest]

Here is how to stop the annoying FAKE attacks from Adobe especially to those of us who legitimately purchased...

TURN OFF YOUR WIFI WHILE USING THE SOFTWARE AND YOU WON'T GET MESSAGES.

[opensrc]

So the current state of things:

Adobe now installs a process called Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service along with their software updates.  If it can't validate that your Adobe software is genuine it pops up a warning notice.  The stated purpose is to protect users from the dangers of using pirated software that could contain malware or otherwise be harmful.  The warning is in the form of a nag screen that will repeatedly pop up as long as you have the software open.

People encountering this include:

     Those who are knowingly using pirated software, though they probably aren't coming to an Adobe forum asking for help.

     Those who purchased software from untrustworthy sources and may unknowingly ended up with pirated software.

     Those who purchased software directly from Adobe or their authorized distributors and are running legitimate software.

Solutions:

     For those who may have unknowingly purchased pirated software Adobe seems to be willing to offer them a discount if they subscribe to the Creative Cloud versions of the software.  For those who don't want the subscription software the alternative is to follow the directions available both here and elsewhere on the Internet for disabling the validation process or removing it from view.  The downside of that is that if your run into a situation where you need to reinstall the software the installation will fail.

     For those who purchased from an authorized source AND still have your proof of purchase, Adobe seems willing to issue you a new key and have you reinstall the software.  They seem to be slow in acknowledging that your software may be genuine, you have to be persistent, and you need proof of purchase.  For some people this approach has worked for a time and then the pop ups returned, and they had to prove their case to Adobe again.  Adobe appears to not want to acknowledge that their validation process is flawed and people involved come away feeling like Adobe is still maintaining that the user has done something wrong.

     For those who purchased from an authorized source some years ago and can't produce their proof of purchase you are in the same boat as those who purchased from an unauthorized source.  Adobe seems reluctant to acknowledge that there are users who purchased genuine software that are getting the pop ups, and the solution they offer is frustrating and unsatisfying.  Adobe isn't responsible for people using pirated software, but they should be responsible for fixing the flawed validation software and be more gracious and responsive to legitimate users wrongly flagged by that software.

[RNR1995]

I can verify that legitimate keys are being flagged, wasting valuable time

had it happen to a client today, even though this "Genuine Software" program has been around for years

Usually people do not pirate software at their place of business

The software was installed for years, now it is illegitimate? (Acrobat Pro XI)

Clearly there are issues here and Adobe should address them

Seems this pirate notice is appearing on software that the support has expired, I guess software itself now expires?

Years ago had other companies with activation schemes refuse to activate products that were reinstalled when people moved to Windows 7

Needless to say we do not use that software anymore, not sure what to do with Acrobat though?

Greed is not good....

[ProDesignTools]

Hi RNR, here's the scoop:

1. Very slowly and carefully over the past few years, Adobe has been more broadly rolling out their Genuine Software Integrity Service to more and different products and geographies... Meaning, something that previously 'worked' before the service was activated for your particular product and region may no longer do so.

2. Just because support has expired has no connection at all to the software itself "expiring." The insinuation that a Fortune 500 company like Adobe is somehow driven by greed to illegally revoke actual genuine licenses from customers really has no place in these Forums.

[RNR1995]

1) BS, rolled out in the USA first, product has been installed for years on the same PC

2) What would you call it? coincidence? So all of the people complaining about the same thing, then receiving NEW KEYS from Adobe are all liars?

Obviously they had legitimate keys revoked, but for most people it is easier to upgrade and pay, then to waste hours on the phone with someone who does not speak your language

There is no way to explain this away, we sold the licenses, we installed the machines

Everything is legit, the software is flawed, and now I am wasting more time on this...

[Terri_Stevens]

RNR1995  wrote

I can verify that legitimate keys are being flagged, wasting valuable time

had it happen to a client today, even though this "Genuine Software" program has been around for years

Usually people do not pirate software at their place of business

The software was installed for years, now it is illegitimate? (Acrobat Pro XI)

Clearly there are issues here and Adobe should address them

Seems this pirate notice is appearing on software that the support has expired, I guess software itself now expires?

Years ago had other companies with activation schemes refuse to activate products that were reinstalled when people moved to Windows 7

Needless to say we do not use that software anymore, not sure what to do with Acrobat though?

Greed is not good....

You say that you installed the software on behalf of clients, are you an authorised Adobe reseller? If not where did you get the software from? The Genuine Software validation service was introduced just a few years ago , initially just for Acrobat, but after extensive testing has now been extended to most Adobe products.

It's easy to say Adobe are using sharp practice to get upgraders , but generally when these pop-up questions are investigated it turns out that the software has been counterfeited or the licence abused. It usually isn't the fault of the user, they have just got tempted by an irresistibly low price on eBay or a bogus software site or bought a special edition for educational use designed to time out or have a volume licence key that has been sold multiple times over. Adobe rarely discount their software and so if you see something for $250 that should be $650 alarm bells should ring.

If you are an authorised agent I am quite surprised the company won't help you , but as you are going through the normal process of technical support rather than using one of the back office channels , I suspect you are probably buying the software in the same way as any ordinary customer and then installing on your clients machines. 

[RNR1995]

UGH! it came from Ingram, Tech Data or Synnex, trolling from shills will be a reason not to bother posting here again
2) Do not care to find POP on an expired product
3) See above for sales info, did not bother with tech support

"I suspect you are probably buying the software in the same way as any ordinary customer and then installing on your clients machines."
WOW now I am the pirate? We are a reseller, I have over 20 years in this business, do not for a second try to tell me that giant corporation are not unscrupulous
I have seen it too many times
The software is probably getting flagged to scare the client in to upgrading as it became EOL last October

[Terri_Stevens]

Wow you get mad easily don't you? For a start I'm not a troll and actually rather resent being called as stooge for Adobe. My questions were fair. Your not going to like this but if I had supplied clients with software that has a question mark against it, I would without hesitation give them a full refund, that's what a decent company would do-instead you are washing your hands of them. I didn't at first think you were supplying pirated software but from your response here have had that belief thrown into doubt. Why haven't you used technical support? Are you afraid they will discover you have used a 'crack'? If you bought from authorised sources in the first place we would not be having this conversation.

[RNR1995]

OK so now I am a pirate and a liar? But I should not get mad at that?

I've read through this blog and you try to blame everyone for their issues with Adobe products, except Adobe?

Your questions were fair? you mean insulating I am a thief?

And a genius like you would give a full refund for an expired software title?

They are still our clients so I do not understand your hand washing comment?

The reason we did not bother with tech support is why bother looking for proof of purchase for a software title that needs to be replaced?

I also resolved this issue rather quickly, and remotely

As the client is an accountant I am sure the POP with the serials are somewhere in their file room

Go back under your bridge