I just got a message my Photoshop CS6 extended is being disabled - is this an mistake? Help please?

[dr_jon99]

I just got a pop-up when I ran up Photoshop CS6 Extended saying Adobe was going to disable it (see below). As I bought it from Amazon (and supplied by Amazon, in a box) I find it very hard to believe it's not legitimate. Also I've never given my serial number to anyone, why would I, it would risk my very expensive product having something like this happen to it, plus I paid for it as I disapprove of piracy or I could have saved myself a lot of money.

Can people guess serial numbers from others they know about? Is there an issue with the Adobe Genuine System?

I remember at the time people saying it's easy to get an iffy one, but as I wanted to use it seriously and be supported I paid for it, making this even more annoying.

I still use Photoshop CS6 Extended as it does what I want, also I was somewhat annoyed the subscription version came out a little later, was only a mild update, and having spent best part of £900 on CS6 didn't even get a discount or some free months.

I haven't changed anything on my computer recently other than updating Windows 10 Pro as required.

I also have Lightroom 6.14 which still seems okay, but maybe it's one message a day? I just use that for Negative Lab Pro these days...

Could the problem be with LR as it just says one of my products? I bought that directly from Adobe in 2015 (strictly I upgraded 1-2-3-4-5-6).

I only run CS6, LR and the DNG converter (but I haven't used the latter for ages). CS6 is also installed on my old Notebook, but I haven't turned that on in over a year..

I don't think I've been hacked - the "Learn More" link really took me to Adobe. I do remember Adobe getting hacked tho... but that was 2013 (unless another happened very recently), although I did register it with them in 2012...

Entertainingly Adobe help takes you here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/x-productkb/global/invalid-revoked-serial-numbers.html
Where:
"If the serial number associated with the software is blocked, find information on this page to quickly resolve the issue."
Which takes you to a page where you can subscribe to Adobe software... something I'm not motivated to do as I've done nothing wrong...

Am I in trouble, as they may automatically say there's an issue and not discuss it. Is there a simple solution out there? Do I need to take them to Court? Is there any way someone could get the serial number - if Adobe could tell me when they noticed something I could see what software got installed just beforehand, but this seems very unlikely?

Is there any way to contact a real person at Adobe and get more information?

Anyway thanks for anything anyone can come up with? I really have no need for a subscription as I'm okay with the software I have and it runs fine and as ytou may have noticed I'm somewhat upset this happened for no reason I can see.

[Peru Bob]

Is there any way to contact a real person at Adobe and get more information?

Please go to Adobe Customer Service (Make sure to sign in to your Adobe account first and allow popups and cookies in your browser. You may not be able to see the chat window if using a VPN.):
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.

or X (was Twitter):
https://twitter.com/adobecare

[dr_jon99]

Thanks for the Agent tip, I'll try that in a sec (Pet feeding first). The X/Twitter people were very pleasant but say they don't soi serial number issues.

[dr_jon99]

After a 52 minute phone call (mostly on hold, the music isn't great) I discovered the s/n had been "retired",  they asked for box and lixence phoitos plus order details so I've sent them. The Agents were friendly and helpful. Fingers crossed...
They also confirmed my Lightroom serial number is fine...
Thanks again for the help.

[Peru Bob]

Please keep us updated.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

I just got a pop-up when I ran up Photoshop CS6 Extended saying Adobe was going to disable it (see below). As I bought it from Amazon (and supplied by Amazon, in a box) I find it very hard to believe it's not legitimate.

By @dr_jon99

Amazon is the marketplace, not the seller. I would set my default belief that it's not legitimate, caveat emptor.

Contact Amazon and see if you can get a refund, or at least get the seller banned.

[dr_jon99]

The seller was Amazon EU, I bought it through Amazon UK. It's been registered against my Adobe account since 2012 so if it was iffy I suspect they'd have noticed soem time back... 😞

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

t's been registered against my Adobe account since 2012

By @dr_jon99

Ah, I assumed that you had recently purchased this. We see it all the time.

[kevin stohlmeyer]

@dr_jon99 any chance this was an educational license at one time? I've seen the teacher/student edition SNs being deactivated over the past year but not full licensed versions.

[dr_jon99]

Nope, full boxed retail version.... just under £900...

[Jose Antonio38552782f32o]

Tengo un MacBook Pro del 2013, y ese mismo año compré el paquete Adobe Design Std. que contiene Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Acrobat Pro y 5 aplicaciones más. Mi sitema operativo es, desde hace varios años el OS X El Capitán versión 10.11.6 Los programas me van perfectamente y ya me avisaron hace unos años que caducaba la atención técnica por parte de Adobe, lo cual implicaba no poder actualizar ni resolver problemas que me surgieran, pero en ningún momento se me indicó que el programa tuviese caducidad (ni en el contrato inicial de compra) Ningún problema por que los programas me van perfectamente y no necesito actualizar nada. Hace dos días al abrir el Photoshop me sale un mensaje indicando que "Adobe ha detectado recientemente un uso indebido del número de serie utilizado para activar una o más de tus aplicaciones de Adobe. Como resultado, tu aplicación de Adobe se desactivará" y me dan de plazo 5 días.

Yo no he cambiado de ordenador, el sistema opoerativo es el msmo desde hace años (de hecho no lo puedo actualizar) no he usado mi paquete de Adobe en ningún otro ordenador ni se lo he cedido a nadie. Aunque quisiera suscribirme (que no quiero) a una nueva versión de los programas mi sistema operativo no me lo permite porque está anticuado (pero me va perfectamente)

Mi programa y mi licencia son originales. Llamo a Adobe y la "técnico"-comercial que me atiende me cuelga el teléfono sin darme ninguna solución.

Espero que alguien pueda ayudarme.

[dr_jon99]

Jose - My approach was to type Agent in the chat box on the amazon site and choose "call me in one minute", then explain my problem. They forwarded the call to the Adobe Genuine team (after a long time on hold) who opened a case and sent me an e-mail asking for purchase and serial number confirmation. I sent that, time passed, and then I got an e-mail saying the serial number had been restored.  
I still had an issue with the pop-up saying it will be disabled, so not quite done yet. I did rename a directory I was recommended to remove, see my other post today, but it will be a little time until I see if that worked...

[Jose Antonio38552782f32o]

Gracias
José Antonio

[dr_jon99]

Okay, so some progress. I got an e-mail last night saying:

"Dear John,
We would like to inform you that the serial number has been restored."

...and another:

"Your case is now closed."

However when I start Photoshop...

It was suggested I delete this directory (from both disk and recycle bin!):

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\AdobeGCClient

(Which I note includes a bunch of .exe and .dll files dated last month, plus 2023, 2022, etc.)

So I've renamed it and hopefully that will work. As I only get the warning dialogs occasionally it will be impossible to tell for certain for a few days... Still both PS and LR still run up...

[fatkins1]

I've owned, used my  photoshop cs6 for many years(10years).without issues. I'm now getting alerts that my app has been disabled due to misuse of the serial number? 

[Peru Bob]

Did you purchase it directly from Adobe?

What is the exact wording of the error message?

Can you post a screenshot?

[kevin stohlmeyer]

This has been reported by a number of users. Contact Adobe Customer Care via adobe.com chat pod.