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tech7online
Participant
April 11, 2022
Answered

is my photoshop cs3 dead?

  • April 11, 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 583 views

Well I see plenty of posts basically stating that, photoshop cs3 is so old its no longer supported by Adobe..? Mine was literally working fine on my 2008 iMac 8,1 running os X 10.5.8 right up until I tried to figure out how to remote access this computer from my laptop. That curiosity caused an "error" in the software such that I was no longer to boot the computer with that drive installed. It would not even boot into safe mode or to the disk utility screen. It was stuck on the blue screen. I installed another hard drive and installed the old os from the original disc what came with it it back in 2008. Now I am back up and running, I can plug in the "damaged" driveinto the imac  and see it however I cannot use any of the adobe applications that are on there from before and get the following information when I try to open adobe illustrator cs3 and photoshop c3s...

Any advice on my issue is most appreciated.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer jane-e

@tech7online 

 

The aging activation servers were shut down several years ago. CS2, 3, and 4 can no longer be installed. 

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite.html

 

You can use CS3 with the original OS and hardware as long as everything keeps working. 

 

Jane 

 

4 replies

Brad @ Roaring Mouse
Community Expert
Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 12, 2022

So, the old drive functions? (since you said you connected it)

Since you are not booted up from the actual drive your software is on, you cannot access the components that CS3 needs that are installed in system-level locations.

10.5.8 is reallllly old so I don't know the capabilities of the Migration Assistant, but I would try use that to copy your settings and files from your old drive to your new one.

Even if that is successful, since activations tend to be tied to hardware, it may still consider your activation as valid, but that's a long shot.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse
Community Expert
Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 12, 2022

Also, if you haven't done a Disk Utility repair on the old disk, do so. You could even try boot off of it by changing your Startup Disk (or holding down Option when you boot).

NB, colourmanagement
Community Expert
NB, colourmanagementCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 12, 2022

You may be able to try going back in time to before the error occurred from your Time Machine Backup. 

Otherwise, CS3 is dead as it can no longer be activated, Adobe decided to close the activation server.

Hit me too as I had PS CS3 on an old admin mac in the office, just for occasional use.  Makes me sad to look at all the Adobe product boxes on my SW shelf, all dead! Bin time. 

 

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer:: co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

T
tech7onlineAuthor
Participant
April 13, 2022

thats the first thing i tried to do and it was not setup! my bad

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
April 12, 2022

@tech7online 

 

The aging activation servers were shut down several years ago. CS2, 3, and 4 can no longer be installed. 

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite.html

 

You can use CS3 with the original OS and hardware as long as everything keeps working. 

 

Jane 

 

    TheDigitalDog
    TheDigitalDog
    Inspiring
    April 11, 2022

    Yes, it is basically dead in that there's no support nor can you install it and activate it any longer. If you have an old machine it runs on, well it will of course run but otherwise, it's DOA.

    Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
    T
    tech7onlineAuthor
    Participant
    April 13, 2022

    thank you for your reply

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