Photoshop life license no longer works

[Bernd38983906iml5]

Hello everyone,

I bought Photoshop CS5 when I was a student. Now I wanted to install Photoshop CS5 on my newly installed computer. I still have the serial number / license number, have added it to my Adobe account and downloaded the software. That all worked. But now when I open Photoshop, Adobe asks me to activate the product again.

When I enter the serial number, I am told that it has already been activated on two computers and must first be deactivated if I want to use Photoshop here on my computer. The first computer was the family computer, which no longer exists. The second computer was the computer I am currently using before I reinstalled it. So technically, I no longer have any way of deactivating the product on the other devices.

The problem is that I'm not sure whether I even linked Photoshop to a user account back then. If that was the case, I have no idea about the access data. Of course, I know all my personal data and would also have a speculation about the e-mail address.

The telephone support tells me that Photoshop CS5 is no longer supported and they can't help me with this. Instead, I am supposed to receive a trial version of the current Photoshop for 3 months. Of course I don't want that, I want my old Photoshop CS5, for which I wrote all the add-ons. After all, I bought a lifetime license for this and now I can no longer use the product ? This is definitely not the definition of lifetime use.

Has anyone had a similar problem and possibly found a solution ? You can find a german screenshot in the attatchment. 

[kevin stohlmeyer]

@Bernd38983906iml5 unfortunately if you cannot deactivate either of those installs you may be stuck.

https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/activate-deactivate-products.html

[Lumigraphics]

I believe a student license is just supposed to be while you are in school, not "lifetime." And yes, Adobe is really clamping down on older versions, I wouldn't be surprised if they quit activating CS5 installs soon.

[Bernd38983906iml5]

To be honest, I dont think it is just while I was in school. The lifetime license was just cheaper because I was in school but it is still lifetime.

And I have no idea how I can be stuck, I mean I bought the license to use a software and now it is technically impossible because Adobe is not able to help me here ? I just dont get why Adobe sold such onetime payment products then ?

[davescm]

At the time student licenses were indeed perpetual and did not just apply whilst the purchaser was a student (this was discussed and confirmed fairly recently in these forums).

On the issue raised, if you cannot deactivate on your previous system or via your account then, if you have reached more than two active installs (including those not deactivated from previous installations) then you are indeed stuck.

I just dont get why Adobe sold such onetime payment products then ?

Perpetual licenses were always limited to two active installs. What has changed recently is that in dropping support for a product sold 14 years ago and replaced 12 years ago, deactivating and reactivating falls on the user and there is no longer a back up to override activations if a user uninstalls without deactivating.

Dave

[Bernd38983906iml5]

I have understood the principle, but I am not satisfied. I don't remember being told anywhere that I have to deactivate the software before I set up my computer again. In fact, I don't know of any other programs that require deactivation before reactivation.

In principle, I am not complaining about the process or the fact, but I find it highly questionable to sell a lifetime license that obviously cannot be used for life. Above all, I'm beginning to get the feeling that the discontinuation of support for CS5 is simply intended to force me to subscribe to the current and new software. Even though I have already bought the product.

[kevin stohlmeyer]

Unfortunately the term "lifetime" is not in the agreement. Keep in mind "perpetual" is dependent on staying on the same system, OS, etc once support ended in 2013.

When it comes to deactivation or limits to the number of activation, onus is on the user - it is in the agreement documentation and on all the supporting pages in HelpX. In the CS5 terms it listed a URL that now directs to here: https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/activate-deactivate-products.html

Discontinuation of support for CS5 is a moot argument. Any software company moves forward with supporting newer versions, especially after a major transition (in 2013) to Creative Cloud. It costs money to keep activation servers and support active for such an old software and Adobe is a business making a business/cost decision.

[Bernd38983906iml5]

As a consumer, is it not to be assumed that I can use any software purchased for a fee forever?

[kevin stohlmeyer]

As long as you follow the directives given in the license agreement - specifically related to deactivating/reactivating your product.

[davescm]

As a consumer, is it not to be assumed that I can use any software purchased for a fee forever?

Forever is a long time 🙂 But, provided you keep the same surrounding system running i.e. hardware, operating system, and in the case of photography - cameras etc. that could be a reasonable assumption. But if any of those are changed/updated then there is a risk of that 'perpetual' software no longer working. There is never an agreement that the software will receive updates forever.

In this case though, it is a different issue. Adobe have not time limited this 'perpetual' software license. The company has withdrawn support for cases where the deactivation/reactivation process has not been followed.

Dave

[Conrad C]

As a consumer, is it not to be assumed that I can use any software purchased for a fee forever?

By @Bernd38983906iml5

As a consumer nothing can be assumed, if it’s something valuable then we have to read and understand the terms and conditions that we decide to agree to when using the product, whether it’s a car or a refrigerator or software. And in most cases, there is no guarantee of lifetime function.

I’m looking at the current license agreement for a photo app that is not by Adobe, and does not need a subscription, so in theory, it should “work forever”. I hid their name but I think you will find a passage like this in the license agreement for most or maybe all of the apps you use. Their license says:

[company name hidden] (or its licensors) may suspend, remove, modify or disable (or impose limits on) access to the currently available [company name hidden] Software at any time without notice and without liability to you.

I quoted that for two reasons: One, that’s not from Adobe and not for cloud or subscription software (it’s a perpetual license for a locally installed app), and yet, like most commercial software I have seen, they make it plain that they reserve the right to alter the deal at any time.

Two, I quoted that one because it was available online and faster than digging up the legal terms were for Photoshop CS5, but…again, based on what the terms have been for just about all commercial software for many years, the Photoshop CS5 terms probably said something very similar to the quote above: Lifetime usability is not likely to be guaranteed.

Because you have the Photoshop CS5 software, chances are the license agreement is in there and readable without running the installer, and if it’s like other commercial software, the license agreement probably says we users have to be aware that there is no guarantee that the software will work, and that they are not obligated to make it work.

The main way to get around this is to use open source software so that you can freely modify the code of your copy. But of course, that’s only a real option for those who have those coding skills (I don’t).

[Nancy OShea]

There is no such thing as a "lifetime license."  CS5 is a 13 year old, discontinued product.

You purchased Creative Suite with an activation limit. If you used up the available activations, you must deactivate one from the HELP menu on the device to which it was previously installed.

If that device is no longer available, I'm sorry.  You'll need to get modern software to replace it.

Photoshop Elements (no subscription needed).
https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html

Creative Cloud Photography Plan (approx $10/month for 12 months). Includes the following:

• Photoshop CC and Photoshop on iPad
• Camera Raw
• Lightroom on desktop, mobile and the web
• Lightroom Classic
• Portfolio website + hosting
• Adobe Express (free starter plan)
• Bridge
• 20 GB cloud storage (upgradable to 1 TB).
• Free upgrades for paid subscribers

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography.html

Creative Cloud Bundled & Single App plans.
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

Make sure your computer meets the minimum CPU & GPU requirements. Most Creative Cloud apps work on:

• Windows 11 (64-bit), Windows 10 versions 22H2, 21H2, 21H1;
• MacOS 14 (Sonoma), 13 (Ventura), 12 (Monterey), macOS 11 (Big Sur).

- https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/system-requirements.html
- https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/system-requirements.html
- https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cc-gpu-card-faq.html

Hope that helps.

[Conrad C]

There is no such thing as a "lifetime license."  CS5 is a 13 year old, discontinued product.

By @Nancy OShea

The license itself may be perpetual, which in practical terms means for the rest of our lives. (Legally, I am not sure about the ability of heirs to inherit software licenses for boxed or locally downloadable software. But from what I have read, various companies including Apple do not consider subscriptions or app store licenses to be transferable.) So the license may stil be valid, where the confusion comes in is that the license does not guarantee that the product will always work, or will always be available, or will be updated.

So what is happening to the owners of older versions (I have a lot of older versions too) is that the licenses are still valid and will be for life, but that does not in any way guarantee that the software will be able to run at any point in time in the future.

[Nancy OShea]

Let me begin by saying I am not an attorney.  But I'm no stranger to contracts, Terms of use Agreements and California consumer protection laws.

A perpetual license was not a "lifetime license" in the way that most customers thought it was.  It was perpetual to the product's lifetime; not the customer's lifetime.  Creative Suite had a shelf-life of approx 3-5 years, beyond which the customer could continue using it at their own risk for as long as Adobe could keep making it available to their system.  Or they could pay to upgrade to newer software that was fully supported. 

In theory, if a customer never ever changed computers or upgraded their system and never needed to reinstall CS, they could potentially keep using their products indefinitely.  But that's not realistic given that aging hardware & software eventually break down and stop working. 

Most users upgraded when it was still possible to do so.  Others subscribed to Creative Cloud which works fundamentally the same as Creative Suite except that's its distributed via a subscription model instead of boxed disks.

I don't think anyone can complain about 13 years of product use. That's vastly more longevity than I had with some cars for which I paid 100 times more.  😶