What product is needed for a CS3 upgrade?

[jannerick]

Hi there,

I have a quite old upgrade version of the CS5.5 Web Premium. To install it, I also have the licences of CS5 and CS3 - as I learned after trying to reinstall after about 5 years - both are also only upgrade versions.

My guess is that I had some old macromedia thingy, which got lost in the past years.

Can somebody help me by telling me which products can be upgraded to CS3? I would then try to buy one of those on some marketplace to have my CS5.5 up and running again.

[Tacafy大尉]

Good evening jannerick.
CS products were discontinued 8 years ago in CS6, so there is no version upgrade at present.
You need to purchase a Creative Cloud product.

In addition, the CS3 activation server has been stopped for several years, so if you do not have the activation avoidance installer, you cannot install it now.

In any case, installing and using the CS product in the current environment (from now on) may not be possible even if it is an own risk, because security patches may be stopped or support may be terminated. It is reasonable to think that it is impossible.

[jannerick]

Hi, thank you for your interesting answer - sadly this is not answering my question 😉

I know that CS was replaced by CC, I also do not want to work with CS3 but CS5.5. Is that activation server also shut down (honest question)?

Nevertheless for activation I am still asked for a serial prior to CS3. So my question remains: Can somebody help me by telling me which products can be upgraded to CS3?

[Test Screen Name]

The activation server for CS5.5 is still running. The serial number you would need is probably the one you have for CS3, so you should have everything you need. You enter the CS5.5 serial first, then the CS3 serial when you are asked. ON NO ACCOUNT TRY TO GET AN UPGRADE TO CS3 - that's won't fly at all.

[jannerick]

Thank you, this is mainly what I have done.

1. Installed CS5.5
2. Enter Key for CS5.5 (upgrade version)
3. Enter Key for CS5 (upgrade version)
4. Enter Key for CS3 (upgrade version)
5. now I would need to enter a license key of a full version, prior to CS3

Like I said, that license for step 5 was lost somehow. I would need to replace it, but I do not know which products are able to be upgraded to CS3.

Next steps would be:

1. Know which product to buy.
2. Buy such a product, on eBay or similar
3. Do an Adobe license transfer https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/transfer-product-license.html
4. Enter the last missing license to activate my CS5.5

[John Waller]

What you have done is fine.

What puzzles me is why you even need step 4. I have always successfully installed upgrades after entering just one serial number from any previous version - even if that was an upgrade serial number.

Does the CS5.5. installer actually prompt you for another serial number after entering the CS5 upgrade serial number?

[RuskinF]

The CS versions were discontinued after CS6.

You cannot install CS applications now.

You will have to get a subscription of CC to use the applications of your choice.

[jannerick]

Why shouldn't I be able to install my CS version? Adobe is just not selling and supporting it anymore, that doesn't mean that you can not use your license..

[AxelMatt]

>>You cannot install CS applications now.

That's not quite true.

The older version of Adobe's CS application are all not compatible with the new operating systems. But as far as I know you can install it under Windows.

More problems you'll have with the newest Apple iOS. Here you need an 64bit installer and all older applications have an 32bit installer. So this will not be run.

[John Waller]

>>>You cannot install CS applications now.

Not true - unless you're running Mac Catalina.

If you have a compatible computer and operating system, CS4 through to CS6 can still be installed.

[Test Screen Name]

If you have a nice old system, or a lot of luck, you can get CS 5.5 running (with the disk and serial and the one serial you upgraded from). CS3 is useless, except that you need to keep that serial. It's useless because, if you install it, you can't use it until it's activated, and the activation was switched off: gone forever.

[Nancy OShea]

If you faithfully registered all your products, you might find your old serial numbers online.

Please log-in to your account below.
https://account.adobe.com/products

If you didn't keep your serial numbers, there's nothing anyone can do because 1) this is a user-to-user forum and 2) All Creative Suite products are unsupported.  Use at your own risk.

eBay is a pirate's den.   You would do well to steer clear of all software offered from auction sites.  The likelihood of receiving bogus, hacked or malware infected products is very high.   It's not worth the risks to you or your computer.  See Adobe Genuine Software https://www.adobe.com/genuine.html