CS3 Reinstall [LOCKED, CS3 IS DEAD]

[meehan117]

I have followed the procedure to reinstall a new copy that requires no validation.  I signed in and got a new serial number, uninstalled my current copy, clicked the download link provided, and installed the new copy.  The instructions lead me to believe that would solve my problem.  But when I start up Dreamweaver after reinstalling it still tells me I only have x days left unless I activate.  What am I doing wrong?

What am I doing wrong?

[B i r n o u]

did you gave a try to the cleaner tool.. just in case

Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems

[meehan117]

Yes, and it didn't help.

[Nancy OShea]

Re-activating CS3 (Updated)

Did you remove the PCD folder from

Program Files (x86)/Common Files/Adobe/

When prompted for serial number, enter the new one.  And click on Never Register.

Restart your computer.

Please keep in mind that legacy CS3 is not certified to run on newer operating systems (Win10 or Mac Sierra).

[meehan117]

Nancy I wish I had a way to buy you a coffee.  Getting rid of the PCD folder did the trick.  Success after at least 6 hours of trying everything else.

[Nancy OShea]

I'm sorry it took so long but I'm really glad you got it all sorted.

Happy Halloween!!

[Timobkr]

Hi Nancy,

I tried doing what you suggest.

First let me describe my exact situation : I am trying to install Adobe Illustrator CS3 on a brand new Windows 10 Family OS

In C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe, I don't see a PCD folder. It's called "Adobe PCD". So I tried removing the "Adobe PCD" folder. Then, when I try to launch Illustrator CS3, I get the following error message : "Licensing for this product has stopped working. You cannot use this product at this time ..."

Any ideas ?

Help would be greatly appreciated !

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

This is an outdated discussion from 2 years ago.  Adobe has since ended ALL  support for CS3 and earlier.  The activation servers were taken offline many years ago and the replacement installers and activation-free serial numbers are no longer available.  

If you never need to re-install Creative Suite, you could potentially keep using it for 12 more years.  But you must never upgrade your computer or OS again as  re-installation is no longer possible.  CS3 is officially dead.

[Timobkr]

Hi Nancy,

Thank you for your answer.

I see.

However, less than 2 months ago, I installed the same copy of Illustrator CS3 on a windows 10 machine and everything went fine.

Any idea what could be different ?

The two machines differ in several ways but the biggest differences are that the machine that worked

- is Windows 10 Enterprise (versus Family)

- had had this Illustrator copy on it when it was in Windows 7.

Could one of these differences be the reason ?

[Nancy OShea]

In terms of supporting OS,  13 year old CS3 was built for Vista and XP with SP 2.  Beyond that, you're on your own.  It might work or it might not.  In most cases it won't run much less install on modern computers. It's just too old.

[jjkul]

I understand that the Dreamweaver Cs3 is no longer supported, but why is the Authorization Code not available to me and connected with my account? It should just stay with my purchase and always show in Registered Products just liek the SN number is there. I only take care of 2 websites that are DB driven, so i need Dreamweaver CS3 to wirk on these. Need that Auth Code since my computer crashed, and reinstalled all the software. UGH Help!!

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

@jjkul,

No-can-do, sorry.  CS3 is dead. The activation-free offer was for a limited time only until users could migrate to new software. But that ship left port 4 years ago.

Besides, 15 year old web authoring software is useless in 2022.  The web has changed too much, so have servers, browsers and the devices people use.  It's time to move to modern coding tools and MySQLi or PDO server connections.

Read chapters, do code exercises, take quizzes at the end.
- https://www.w3schools.com/html/
- https://www.w3schools.com/css/
- https://www.w3schools.com/js/

- https://www.w3schools.com/bootstrap/

================

MODERN CODE EDITORS:
-- Adobe Dreamweaver CC - https://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver.html  alone or with 3rd party extensions.
-- Codespaces (free, browser-based) - https://github.com/features/codespaces
-- Nova (Mac only, formerly called Coda) - https://nova.app/
-- Pinegrow - https://pinegrow.com/
-- Sublime Text - http://www.sublimetext.com/
-- Visual Studio Code (free) - https://code.visualstudio.com/
-- Wappler ~ Visual Web App Builder - https://wappler.io/

Whatever you decide, best of luck on your future projects.