Need to deactivate Lightroom perpetual license from a computer that has been wiped clean

[default4osztiioe0pm]

Hi,

I have a perpetual license for Lightroom 6 classic. The license allows me to use it on two computers, so I had it installed on my laptop and on my desktop. I had a hardware issue with my laptop and had to wipe it clean.

I now bought a new laptop and installed Lightroom on it but I cannot activate it because Adobe thinks it is still in use on my old laptop, so I get the following message: "The serial number [...] is already in use by the maximum allowed computers. You need to deactivate another computer..." Unfortunately I cannot deactive it myself as the system was wiped clean and has some serious malfunction.

I believe the only way to get around this is by Adobe resetting all my activations (indeed there are previous posts in this forum confirming this) so I contacted the online chat support. Unforunately, I was told there was nothing they can do.

The product is out of support, they said. Well, the product may be out of support but my license is a "perpetual" one and there is no way for me to deactivate it from a system that was wiped clean. Adobe is not giving me a way to deactivate it so it is effectively preventing me from using a license that was supposed to work "forever".

What can I do now?

This 

[leouell82tazs@gmail.com]

can't seem to figure out how this thing's working so can you please show me
how it's done

[John T Smith · Accepted solution]

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

Nobody here can help with an account or payment problem
This is a public forum, you need the link to Adobe support, not other users
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
- or https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html
.
Also: beware of answering anyone who sends you a private message
-click for more information about scammers https://tinyurl.com/10791730

[default4osztiioe0pm]

Thank you very much, John!

You're 100% right... I spent more than an hour with the chat support yesterday trying to explain the problem but they kept saying Lightroom is our of support and blah blah, until I managed to speak to a "supervisor" who eventually reset my activation count...

A really painful experience and a total waste of time for everyone involved.

If Adobe wants to shutdown support for perpetual license holders and not give users a way to manage their own license, they could at least stop preventing users installing the products they own in the first place! All it would take is to configure the license servers to not bother checking licenses that are no longer supported.

[kglad]

the activation servers for cs2, cs3 and cs4 have already been shuttered.  it's only a matter of time before the other perpetual license activation servers are out of service and none of them can be activated.

[LinSims]

The activation servers don't have a long-term future, either. The server for CS4 was recently shut down, and CS5 and CS6 will also be shut down eventually. It's a matter of when, not if. As of now I'm not aware of any plans, but someone else might be.

[default4osztiioe0pm]

So once a license server is shutdown, you can no longer activate your software?

[John T Smith]

That is correct, see https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite.html?promoid=19SCDRQK

Hardware crashes or virus infections or simple software problems happen, so you should buy AND USE software to make a full backup of your hard drive to an external USB hard drive... plus, making step-by-step backups during a new setup or major program addition makes it easy to go back a step if something doesn't work... I have had to do this once when a program install didn't work properly (a different program, not Adobe) and I had to do a restore due to my drive being SO messed up that I couldn't even uninstall the bad program
.
This backup and then restore is, of course, only to the same computer with a new drive (or the same drive as long as you don't mind writing over everything) since doing a restore to a new computer requires extra steps due to Windows and many programs having activation information that is keyed to your hardware (which is why Windows will force you to RE-Activate if you change very much hardware)
.
The product I bought and use is at http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-linux.htm
Note that I get NO benefit if you buy the program, I only use it and like what it does
Version 3 allows restoring to a larger drive and expanding the partition to fit
.
Image runs off of a bootable CD via Linux (the Zip you download includes a program to make the bootable CD) and it reads EVERYTHING on the drive, even the hidden registration information, so everything is restored when needed... and you may not only restore the image over a messed up install, you may restore to a brand new drive in case of a hardware crash, and not have to re-install anything

I use a Sata docking station and several 'bare' drives for backup
https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-External-docking-station-drives/dp/B00U8KSLA8/

[default4osztiioe0pm]

Thank you, John. That is very helpful.