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Hi, i need help before i go mad. My last two installations of elements were on hard drives which have now be written off. I had another installation on a very old computer which I have now uninstalled. BUT I can not use it on my new (borrowed) machine. It says I have too many other applications open. I cannot close them as the hard disks blew up twice (getting some of my money back as obviously faulty ).
It is impossible to talk to anyone real at Adobe and I am not tec savvy. (old person).
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I'm also an old person but happen to be tech savvy. Sorry to tell you that avoiding madness is not an option with Adobe. Great software but near-insurmountable barriers to installation and especially registration. Apparently if you log into your Adobe account there is a way there to "deactivate" versions running (or not !) on old computers. Didn't work for me, absolutely no reference in my Adobe account to the fact that I have a paid-for version of Elements 11, but if yours is later (you don't say what version you have) I suppose it might work for you.
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Branta, "Apparently if you log into your Adobe account there is a way there to "deactivate" versions running (or not !) on old computers. " There is for subscription apps, Creative Cloud. There is NOT for perpetual license apps such as Creative Suite or Photoshop Elements,
"Didn't work for me, absolutely no reference in my Adobe account to the fact that I have a paid-for version of Elements 11" It should show in your account. Suggests you did not register it. I recommend you register it, it can help to protect your interests and keep it running for more years. Or not.
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"Suggests you did not register it".
If I hadn't registered it then I wouldn't have an Adobe account !
And I don't need to look hard to see I'm not the only one who can't see older products on my Adobe login. But I admit I have no idea where I would look for it as the Adobe portal seems to be all about cloud products on 2021.
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Creative Cloud = https://account.adobe.com/plans
Creative Suite, Acrobat, Elements, etc... = https://account.adobe.com/products
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Please go to Adobe Customer Service (make sure to sign into your Adobe account first) and only ask to have your activations reset:
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html?rghtup=autoOpen will automatically open the chat window.
Type "Agent" in the chat box to bypass the chatbot and be connected to a person.
You may also be able to contact Adobe by phone:
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html
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I wouldn't pay attention to what @Branta said. It's irrelevant to your particular situation.
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/system-requirements/older-versions.html
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I wouldn't pay attention to what @Branta said.
That's doubtless great advice ! Thanks at least for the link to the page where my product registrations are shown, and I think I now also learned how to navigate there by myself from a regular login. Got a warm feeling seeing a "download" button alongside my products there (I still have the install discs but was considering buying the 2021 editions in download form).
But no way will Adobe allow me to "deactivate" Elements 11 at my old PC, and though it's working fine at my new PC I've no idea if I'm just on a free trial period ? "Product Registration...", "Deactivate..." and "Updates..." are all greyed out, but they haven't always been as I've applied updates and had a failed attempt at registration ("Password too long", I guess the rules changed in the intervening 9 years !).
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"But no way will Adobe allow me to "deactivate" Elements 11 at my old PC," Yes. That's correct. You cannot do this yourself, only Adobe could do it. DO NOT BELIEVE ANYONE WHO CONTACTS YOU CLAIMING TO BE FROM ADOBE !!!
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You cannot do this yourself, only Adobe could do it.
This isn't the first time I've moved Elements 11 to a newer PC, I've done it once before. The OP does not have the PC with the previous installation, but I do, it still works fine. In the Elements 11 (editor) menu it's a case of Help > Deactivate... and then there's a dialogue about whether you want to do it permanently or temporarily, but it fails "because not connected to the internet". But not only am I connected to the internet, I can demonstrably connect to Adobe because the Help > Updates... option works fine.
Are you saying Adobe now disabled this for older products, or have you just got some other scenario in your mind ?
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Are you saying Adobe now disabled this for older products?
=========
Most likely. Decade old Elements 11 is woefully oudated & unsupported.
The current Elements series is 2021. A lot has changed. 🙂
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Sure, it's outdated and unsupported, but it still does (nearly) everything I want it to do. I'm not expecting it to still be "supported" after 10 years, but if that means I can't use it at another PC then I'll not be buying the 2021 version just as a workaround. The fact that it doesn't (and never will) read RAW files from my GX8 or OMD EM1Mk2 is a disappointment, but if RAW file formats keep evolving then I can't expect Adobe to keep that stuff updated for free, so that certainly might be a reason to buy Elements 2021. But only if I can assure myself I won't be left in the lurch next time I buy a new PC !
This thread does not seem to have learned what version the OP was using. Hopefully that means he got helped on the 'phone.
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If this is merely an activation count issue, contact Adobe support and ask the agent to reset your count. They should be able to accommodate that request if the activation servers haven't failed yet.