Activation limit reached, but no activated devices in account?

[Cnoctem]

I recently had to reinstall Windows 10.  PSE 2023 would not load because of missing drivers, and reinstalling Visual C++ did not fix the problem.

So, I reinstalled PSE 10.  It is now saying I must deactivate it from previous computers to use the new install, and yet when I go to my Activated Devices screen in my account (as directed by the help article), there are none listed.

So.......  too many activations, and yet, none at all?  Check.  Super.

Anybody got an idea what to do next?

[Greg_S.]

The activated devices screen does not list information for Photoshop Elements.  I am going to ping @Jeff A Wright, an Adobe employee who may be able to figure out the problem.  You will have to wait until after the weekend for a response.

[MichelBParis]

Hi Greg,

You are right, more and more, PSE users are believing they can activate or deactivate from their account, which is not applicable to the non subscription softwares; those must be deactivated from the still working computer and software.

Two reasons for this:

- users also using those subscriptions think that's also valid for PSE and perpetual licenses like PSE.

- A search for "activations" leads to the much more widespread Photoshop and Cloud solutions, and the suggested links in the side of this forum apply to Acrobat, Lightroom and Photoshop...

Unfortunately, when users are changing computers, they don't know or do not remember how to deactivate when it's still available for the users. It's too late when they try.

Untill recently, that common situation could be handled from Adobe staff from the activations servers. As explained in many recent posts, it appears they can no longer access the old and outdated servers to deactivate from their side.

@Cnoctem 

The only way for you to recover your activation count (when the computer is not available) is if you have a second computer using the second activation. Keep in mind that the second activation was provided according to the license terms for a single user;  either as a backup for the first one, or as an opportunity for the same user to work with two activated computers alternatively (not at the same time by two users, a very common situation in practice).

If the second active computer is also no longer accessible, which should not happen if you take care to deactivate when you decide to no longer use it, then you are out of luck. You can no longer transfer your remaining activation to the third computer.

So, Adobe now has to find another solution for the management of the activations in PSE (like in the subscription softwares ?)

@Jeff A Wright 

The help docs are misleading : have a look at the suggestions of other posts shown in the side of this forum. Most are for other softwares (and that is mentioned in the title of the link).

For "normal" help docs, It would be necessary to add a note that managing activations is different in Elements.

[Jeff A Wright]

@MichelBParis , thanks for the feedback. Let's wait for @Cnoctem to respond so we can sort out the problems they are encountering first.

[Jeff A Wright]

@Cnoctem sorry you are unable to install and activate Photoshop Elements 10. I don't see a license for Photoshop Elements 10 listed under the account you used to post to this public discussion forum, so I am not able to review the history. You can use the steps in https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/find-serial-number-elements.html to register the software to your account.

What is the exact text of the error you are receiving when trying to activate Photoshop Elements 10, @Cnoctem ? If you do include a screenshot please do not include any personal information, including serial numbers, as this is a public discussion forum.

[dorisf2015]

Adobe is trying to encourage everyone to go to subscription software. Therefore they are only offering limited support for stand alone software.  Not everyone uses this software on a daily basis that would warrant a monthly fee. That is why we by the stand alone version. If you do not deactivate properly or do not know how to deactivate you are out of luck then they try to sell you more software.,  So unfair Adobe. Fleecing folks on limited income.!!!!

[sarahf70777137]

Exactly what I experinced when I contacted customer support. They said my version is no longer supported but they would be happy to help me upgrade. When I stated I was not interested, they were completely worthless resolving this issue and claimed it's because my version is not compatible with Windows 11. However, I had it on another device running Windows 11 and had no issues. Very frustrating, but most software companies are transitioning to subscription so you can't buy it once you have to keep paying. 

[Glenn 8675309]

What version of pse are you talking about?   Version 10 for example was released 13 years ago.  It does not seem unreasonable for a company to not support such old software.   I've got some other software on my computer that's "broken"- but no way of fixing it simply because the companies no longer exist.   Offically (I don't work for Adobe) they only offically support the most current version, and just the previous version, that's it. 

There are free alternatives, however, the learning curve with those free applications can be rather steep.