PSE 22 not installing on SurfacePro 7+ after reinstallation of Windows (Error 183)

[Spencer38205923t19w]

I use PSE 22 which shows in my Adobe account and I downloaded from Adobe.  I had it installed and working on an Elitebook 745 G6 and a SurfacePro 7+.  I recently reinstalled windows on the SurfacePro and now PSE 22 fails to install with error code 183.  After MANY attempts I downloaded PSE 24 trial edition and installed that to see if that installed and it did.  So I tried again to install PSE 22 but it keeps failing?

[Greg_S.]

Try temporarily turning off any anti-virus or firewall while you install Elements 2022 (which is Elements version 20 - there is no version 22).

Also, since you probably reinstalled Windows without deactivating Elements 2022, you have probably exceeded the number of allowable activations.  Elements will probably see the new installation as a new machine.  If that is the case, you may have an insurmountable problem.  I will ping @Jeff A Wright, an Adobe employee, to see whether he can help.

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Hi Greg, thanks for the reply.  Im thinking you may be correct about the allowable activations as I had it installed on 3 devices which is the max, but I thought after a reinstall of windows it would still recognise it was the same device.  I would have thought though that if this was the case it would have came up with some sort of message saying the amount of allowed activations has been reached, or something like that.  Hopefully Jeff can assist me in removing the activation that no longer exists.

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Hi Greg, quick question, do you know if Jeff will reply on this thread?

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Actually I have just checked my adobe account online and it says I have no activated devices?

[Jeff A Wright]

@Spencer38205923t19w sorry, you are unable to install Photoshop Elements 2022 on your new Surface Book Pro. Error 183 can occur for a number of reasons, please see https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/fix-error-183.html for several common solutions. I see that you already tried disabling your anti-virus software, per @Greg_S. suggestion. Do you use either of the anti-virus software titles listed in https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/fix-error-183.html?

@Greg_S. please feel free to move these types of discussions to the Download and Install Community. The Community and Adobe Staff. in that Community respond to similar discussions regularly.

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Thanks Jeff for your reply, I currently only have the standard windows security software as my antivirus and firewall.  Before I formatted and reinstalled windows I did alread have it installed on the device and had no problems at all with the previous install.  Based on that I have only come up with 2 possible reasons. 1, being the fact I never removed PSE22 before the format and 2, the windows version im installing on is now a later version ( 23H2 Build 22631.3810 ).  Im not sure how to move this to the download and install community, do I need to start a new thread?

[kglad]

your posts are now in the download and install forum.

was pse22 on the drive that was reformatted?

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Hi Kglad,  it was yes

[kglad]

just to clarify: your os and pse 22 were on your c drive.  you reformatted your c drive and installed windows.

all correct?

if so, what win version?  

did you update that win version before trying to install pse?

did you disable av, firewall and any other security software beft trying to install pse?

did you run the installer as administrator?

[Spencer38205923t19w]

HI Kglad,  Yes my OS and PSE 22 were on my C drive, I then installed Win11 from a USB stick created with an ISO from the microsoft website., again using the standard C drive installation.  I dont know what version of Win11 was on the device before the format, but I am pretty sure since I had installed PSE 22, there was probably a few big Win11 updates that were applied as I always ensure my devices are fully up to date on Windows Update.

I didnt disable any security software and the security software I was using is the built in Windows security ( This would have been the same way I originally installed PSE 22, and was also the way I installed the trial of PSE 24 )  I originally just ran the installer on PSE 22 as a user which failed, so I did then try running the installer as admin but had the same result.

I currently have PSE 22 installed on 2 other devices, is there something I can do to remove it from one of the other devices to see if that then allows me to install on the Surface Pro?

[Spencer38205923t19w]

FYI my current Windows version is Win11 23H2 22631.3810

[Spencer38205923t19w]

[kglad]

you can only activate individual perpetual licenses on, at most, 2 devices, but that wouldn't prevent install.

to use pse 22 you have to install AND activate.  so when you get past the 183 error, you'll need to deactivate one of those other 2 activations.

to get past 183, you should disable all av and firewalls. then start the installer as administrator.

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Hi Kglad,

I have tried that, I turned off AV and Firewall and ran as administrator.

[kglad]

adobe connection errors are common and are not related to whether you're connected to the internet.  they're related to connecting to adobe's secure servers.

if you have a non-current os, your default browser must support tls 1.2, https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/eol-tls-support.html

to test your default browser's tls you can use , https://clienttest.ssllabs.com:8443/ssltest/viewMyClient.html

otherwise, confirm that you can connect to the secure adobe servers by reading, http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/activation-network-issues.html

do you see both logos after clicking "link"?

if you can and still see a connection error try these steps, https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/common-network-connectivity-issues.html

if those all fail, white list the adobe network endpoints, https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/kb/network-endpoints.html

or, if you’re trying to activate a perpetual license, you can try offline activation by disconnecting your computer from the internet, starting activation and using https://aoes-stage.licensingstack.com/aoes/aoes/v1/imsauthstatus

[Spencer38205923t19w]

When I clicked on the link to test browser I got this

[kglad]

with win 11 you can skip the test browser stuff.

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Hi, Im sorry Im getting confused.  Im a bit lost on what I need to do.  Also im thinking, surely everything on my device is setup to allow adobe installs as I installed PSE 24 Trial with no issues??

[kglad]

something on your computer is blocking the install of pse 22.  eg, an av app or windows permissions could allow the install of pse 24, and not of pse 22.

you can go throught these, https://community.adobe.com/t5/download-install-discussions/error-code-183-while-installing-adobe-de....

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Ive extracted this from the install log file

[kglad]

delete that path/folder

[Spencer38205923t19w]

Hi Kglad, I deleted ALL of the folders shown in that image, turned off AV and Firewall and ran the installer as administrator but it still failed.  I found an old System Image from December in the end and re-imaged my drive with that as when the image was made PSE 22 was installed and working.

[kglad]

so your pse 22 is working and activated now?

[Greg_S.]

I will ping @Jeff A Wright again.  He is usually very prompt about responding.  (Vacation time is a possibility.)

As for your account showing no activated devices, that only relates to Creative Cloud software.  It doesn't apply to Elements.