Activation of CS3

[hening]

Since I was unable to download CS5, for which I have a license, I tried to install CS3, which I have on DVD. After install, I am urged to activate within 30 days, after that, the software will stop working. I click 'Activate over the Internet' - but the software claims that there is no connection, which is wrong, Safari can access sites. I select 'Remind me on next launch', quit PS, and relaunch. Now I am told that I have less than 1 day left to activate! I retry, but the software does still not recognise my Internet connection. My only chance seems to be to activate over the phone. I call the toll-free number in Germany (where I live) and am told that Adobe no longer supports activation questions over the phone, and I am referred to adobe.com/go/activation_de. Result: not found.

Oh how I love Adobe!

[thatsmauri]

Hi hening,

adobe.com/go/activation_de redirects me to Aktivieren und Deaktivieren von Adobe-Produkten and there's also the reason listed for the absence of over-the-phone activations for Adobe CS3 software.

In short, you will need to download special installer files that come with a new serial number. Both can be obtained from the following site:
» Aktivierungs- oder Verbindungsfehler, wenn CS3 oder Acrobat 8 gestartet werden

I hope that helps

Kind Regards,
Maurice

[hening]

Thank you, Maurice. I'll try that tomorrow.

[Per Berntsen]

Since I was unable to download CS5

Did you try downloading from  this page?

Download Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 products

[Nancy OShea]

CS3 is very old software.  The activation servers for it were taken offline a while ago.  You can get a new installer and serial number if you  really want it.    But unless you have an older OS, it's probably not going to work well.

Re-activating CS3 (Updated)

What you really want is CS5, right?

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/creative-suite/kb/cs5-product-downloads.html

[hening]

Thanks to all of you who replied!

@ Per Bentsen:

No, I downloaded from

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/cs5-product-downloads.html

since I assume my license for 5 will not work for 5.5

@Nancy OShea:

Yes, what I really want is CS5, and I have in the meantime tried the tip you gave on my open question concerning the CS5 download,

https://forums.adobe.com/message/10475440#10475440

namely tried a different browser, Firefox instead of Safari, but with the same negative result.

I think I post this before I try your links given here. (I have been offline for a while due to a drop in current supply).

[Per Berntsen]

since I assume my license for 5 will not work for 5.5

Now that I think of it, 5.5 was an upgrade, not a free update, so you may be right.

But there was no CS5.5 version of Photoshop, it only received one update, to 5.1, which was also part of the CS5.5 suite.

To be able to run CS5 on El Capitan, you might need to install Java, see this thread:

Does Photoshop CS5 work with Mac OS X 10.11.3 ?

Since I don't use a Mac, I have no idea whether this will fix the downloading problem.

[hening]

@Nancy,

Now I tried your link "re-activating CS3 (updated)".

Here is the experience:

The procedure implies that Adobe send me an SMS with a code. That code did not work, it was 051462, when I entered it, it changed to 5.1462 and was rejected.

I thought it was maybe because of the leading zero and tried a second time, which gave 500953, and indeed that was accepted.

But when I tried to go to the download link for the software, it did not work, I was referrred to the browsers Window > Activity for more info, and that showed for 2 lines "an SSL error has occured and a secure connection".

That was on OSX 10.6.8 on which I had planned to install CS3.

Then I tried to access the download link from my current system 10.11.6. Here, the page opened, saying "Sorry, this software is currently unavailable for download. Please report this error to your associated Partner Help Desk. Apologies for any inconvenience."

So it may look like this procedure does not work any more.

So neither CS3 nor CS5 can be downloaded. For both of which I have a "license".

Oh how I love Adobe! This is the company that wants me for their subscription model, which will make me dependent of their online hassle all the way!

[Terri_Stevens]

I think what may be happening is the Adobe website is detecting you are using El Capitan from the browser header collection, an operating system that was never tested with either CS5 or CS3. It may then be generating the "Sorry, this software is currently unavailable for download." message. The message is very misleading, it should say your operating system is not supported . I'm using Windows 10 and can download the German version for the Mac CS5 .

Do you have access to a machine running Windows 10 or Mac OS X v10.5.7 or v10.6? as you might then be able to download. Even if you eventually get the download working there is no guarantee it will run due to incompatibilities with the Java runtime. I know there are workarounds for CS6 on El Capitan but CS5 is a lot older. To be honest this is more an Apple issue than Adobe as they don't respect the need for compatibility with older software. Their view appears to be you should update to newer software or not update your OSX

[hening · Accepted solution]

Hi Terris,

many thanks for your post! It worked out in the end! Details are given below. Maybe others can benefit from them.

Download:

So now I tried to download CS5 from my 10.6.8 disk, a combination I did not try before. Entered Adobe.com in the address bar. It opens a page that is all about "Get Photoshop in the Creative Cloud". The header with the Support link is missing. Instead, there is a footer saying "6 errors occured when opening the page". That was Safari. Trying to install Firefox is excluded, "Your system does not meet the requirements to run Firefox".

Next stop Windows 7, Firefox. - That worked!!

BTW I didn't download the german version, but the english one.

Install:

Install on 10.11.6 went smoothly until:

"To register your software and set up access to Adobe CS Live online services, enter or create an Adobe ID." Entering mine returned "Network error. Please try again later." This looped until I clicked "Skip this step." Then it installed, ending with "Getting Started. [...]You will be reminded to provide an Adobe ID when using your software". I hope this does not mean 'acitvate', and that again will not work...

The first attempt to open CS5 results again (like with CS3 on 10.11.6) in "To open Adobe PS CS5.app you need to install the legacy Java SE 6 runtime."

I don't want to do that with my current system. So I uninstalled it using the Uninstaller, then installed on 10.6.8. Here, the install and activation go without problems. At the end of the install, it says "Could not start your Adobe CS live subscription. Tray again later." No need.

No Java alert on first opening.

So far, so good! - However:

This seems to be CS5.0. If memory serves me, 5.1 was a pretty essential bug fixing update in its time. This does not seem to be for download anywhere. Would anybody know better?

[hening]

Strange, there was no button left saying 'correct answer' or 'solved', only 'helpful'.

[Nancy OShea]

PS Updates for Windows

Adobe - Photoshop : For Windows

PS Updates for Mac

Adobe - Photoshop : For Macintosh

[hening]

Thank you Nancy!

I think the 12.0.4 update is the one I have in mind.

I had earlier been on that page, but overlooked it because it doesn't have the 5.1 in its name.

Download is very convenient from within the app Help menu.

[hening]

Rejoiced too early concerning the update!

It seemed to proceed to the end, but then said "There was an error downloading this update. Please quit and try again later." This applied to (the 3 important of the 4) updates, namely Bridge, Photoshop and Camera Raw.

"Contact customer support for further assistance". Clicked that, 404.

Hope 12.0 will do for me.

[hening]

Well the in-app update, which is so urgently recommended by Adobe, failed. But the manual install of the separately downloaded updater went smoothly! So after a long Odyssee, I finally have a re-install of CS5 (12.04). 🙂

Thanks again to all who helped!

[Terri_Stevens]

hening  wrote

Well the in-app update, which is so urgently recommended by Adobe, failed. But the manual install of the separately downloaded updater went smoothly! So after a long Odyssee, I finally have a re-install of CS5 (12.04). 🙂

Thanks again to all who helped!

Thank you for telling us you are now up and running again. Most of us here are not Adobe employees and it makes a real difference to us to know we have helped out fellow Photoshop users in some small way-it really makes doing this worthwhile.

Terri

[Terri_Stevens]

Good to hear that. All's well that ends well.

Terri