Photoshop CS2 Download link

[Terri_Stevens]

It looks as if Adobe have finally withdrawn the opportunity to download Photoshop CS2 media. The old URL now leads to a purchase page for Creative Cloud

Adobe Creative Cloud desktop apps | Adobe Creative Cloud

So it looks as if anyone now unable to activate CS2 is up the creek without a paddle.I suppose its a good thing as nobody here really knew for sure the legality of telling early version Photoshop users to download it, but its a bit rough on anyone who spent $1000 buying it ten years ago as they are forced to now move on and spend some more money. If anyone has the old URL for the download to hand could you try it to confirm if I am correct?

[Mylenium]

So it looks as if anyone now unable to activate CS2 is up the creek without a paddle.

I'm sure they'll happily steer their canoe to torrent sites and download any activation-free version of PS they like from there (not just CS2).

Mylenium

[JJMack]

Yes it looks like Adobe Adobe has scuttled their old user's lifeboats some will eventually drown what a way to go.  My Wife and I once failed to save a drowning man.  He passed away on route to the hospital.  I'll never forget the look on his face in the water.

[Terri_Stevens]

My Wife and I once failed to save a drowning man. He passed away on route to the hospital. I'll never forget the look on his face in the water.

the stuff of nightmares JJ

[Guest]

That took a dark turn fast.

[davescm]

There is another thread near to this one (at the time of reading) where a user was having trouble updating to latest version of Photoshop and removing CS2 solved it. Coincidence?

Dave

[JJMack]

It may have solved their problem. However, on My Windows 10 Workstation  CS2, CC, CC 2014, CC 2015 and CC 2015.5 all function. They may be a Mac user. If CS2 caused Problems for Photoshop CC.

[gener7]

CS2 won't install or run on a Mac unless it's 10.6.8 or earlier. It was the last version designed for Power PC CPUs as Apple went for Intel.

The only other way would be running CS2 Win under a Windows emulator if you did not want Bootcamp.

Apple is not kind to legacy software.

Gene

[Terri_Stevens]

I don't know about that Dave. Adobe are pretty good at producing builds that don't interact as they use different folders and runtime libraries, but I suppose its possible. I think Millennium got it right. People will say Adobe has conned them by taking a considerable amount of their money and then making the product unusable-albeit it after 10 years-They would have a point as there was no mention that CS2 would be uninstallable after 10 years. They will say the deal was for life on a given OS not until Adobe switched off a server to save money.

It doesn't affect me as I don't have CS2, but its noticeable on this forum how many people feel its all they need-now if they have a crash or buy a new PC CS2 simply will not work unless they have the special version that is not activated. To some extent its fair as CS2 doesn't run on Intel based Macs, so PC users have had an advantage now for years, but I bet this move will not go down well with CS2 users and angry people can easily find the latest version of Photoshop with a crack and not feel any scruples about using it. 

[John Waller]

They will say the deal was for life on a given OS not until Adobe switched off a server to save money.

Precisely. This tests Adobe's definition of perpetual license.

If users have the hardware and OS, Adobe should provide the software.

[Guest]

Adobe seems to think for life means 10 years. All I could get after 3 days of trying was a salesman and guess what, he wanted me to buy something.

[OldBob1957]

Try this link:

Download Adobe Acrobat 7 and Adobe Creative Suite 2 products

I just now (10/12/17 7:31 EST-US) used it and successfully downloaded (again) CS2 products with Firefox, Chrome, and IE. It may be your antivirus is interfering if you are still having problems.

--OB

[Guest]

I’ve been out of town. I’ll text about how this works when I have the chance to try it. I’ve been trying to remember how to use CS2, long sad story. Been fighting an unsupported program on an unsupported computer.

Sent from my iPhone

[joannad49811830]

Any ideas how to get round this Old bob.?...still not having any luck. Should I disable my Avira first.? Cannot get cs2 no matter how hard I try with all the links that supposedly work. Getting v frustrated.

[OldBob1957]

The only thing I can think of is what I said before; try a different browser, or check your antivirus settings and firewall, make certain they are not blocking the download.

I have once again this morning successfully downloaded from that page using multiple browsers.

Perhaps if you tell us, step by step, what you are trying (what type & OS of computer, antivirus, etc.) and what exactly is / is not happening, including any error messages...

--OB

[jamess90701854]

Downloaded CS2 this morning, no problems.

[John Waller · Accepted solution]

CS2 can still be downloaded from

Download Adobe Acrobat 7 and Adobe Creative Suite 2 products​

That links bypasses the incorrect links in the Adobe Help article which you are referring to.

The incorrect links at Error: "Activation Server Unavailable" | CS2, Acrobat 7, Audition 3 were reported to, and acknowledged by Adobe, a few days ago. I'm pessimistic that they'll ever be fixed.

[Terri_Stevens]

I'm glad it is a least still available John. With the volume of sales of Creative Cloud-I think there's close to 8 million subscribers now-there was no need for Adobe to be unethical with their older customers. I wouldn't blame them if they put some kind of security on the download site though, surely asking for a valid CS2 serial number would be fair and ensure only entitled people downloaded. Is the link you provided new or did you just happen to have an alternative?

[OldBob1957]

Terri Stevens wrote:

I wouldn't blame them if they put some kind of security on the download site though, surely asking for a valid CS2 serial number would be fair and ensure only entitled people downloaded.

While I agree with you in principle, the problem then would be that Adobe would need some method to check against a list of valid CS2 licenses, and also to deal with people who insist they HAVE such a valid license who were refused the download. It would essentially seem to be recreating the very servers which they took down in the first place as being too much trouble to maintain. A classic Catch-22.

--OB

[gener7]

When this activation business started, I always thought they would simply issue a patch file for the owners to download. In the case of Macromedia, they issued alternate serial numbers. Error, "Unable to Activate" in Macromedia legacy products

The owners would be fine since they have the original discs.

Pirate usually don't care to host CS2 when they have CS6 or CC.

[Terri_Stevens]

I see what you mean

[John Waller]

Is the link you provided new or did you just happen to have an alternative?

From memory, it has always been there. Jeff Wright (Adobe) reminded me about it today in this thread

https://forums.adobe.com/message/8944353?tstart=0#8944353

[Terri_Stevens]

Interesting, I suppose if the working link suddenly stops working we will be able to tell if the other link was deactivated through a policy decision or just by mistake. I'll be charitable and think there must be a couple of million hyperlinks on the Adobe website and maybe some automated cleanup process just went wrong before.

[Guest]

Thank you John! I have been struggling with this - trying to download using the old links - for ages. Trying every different browser I could think of, etc., all to no avail. Finally a search brought me to this thread...

[Myep]

That seems to lead to a page with no cs2 download links?