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Question

Deactivating Elements when I no longer have access to the computer

Forum|Forum|7 months ago
June 25, 2025
6 replies
487 views

I have (had) Elements 9 (E9) installed on two PCs. That worked fine for years. Suddenly (today) I get a message that I have reached my activation limit (2 devices), being installed on two other devices; whereas I have E9 only running on only one device.

Last year I replaced two PC's, wiped them and donated them to charity; meaning that I have no longer have access to them.

I seem to have an Adobe account but nothing in there shows current activations.

How do I proceed to get E9 to run on the only two PCs that I have?

How to

Greg_S.

Community Expert

. . . True - but, apparently they won't be able to activate it. 😉

Peru Bob

Community Expert

@bernd_5706

I've redacted your serial number in one of the images.

This is a public forum, so anybody would have access to your serial number posted here.

B

bernd_5706Author

Participating Frequently

Thanks for that Bob. I knew this going in, but figured that, because this serial # cannot be used, not much danger there. But again, thanks for your good intentions 🙂

Greg_S.

Community Expert

@bernd_5706, yes I know the article refers to Elements 2019, but it has also worked for other earlier (and later) versions of Elements.

And just in case this may be helpful for other users, did you disconnect your computer from the internet before trying the offline activation? I don't think I mentioned this before, and it is essential for this method to work.

Enjoy the new and improved features of Elements 2025 if that is what you end up with.

B

bernd_5706Author

Participating Frequently

Yes, diconnected from the internet and attached some screenshots. It is pulling this serial # from somewhere, likely from the registry.

I am going on holidays tomorrow until July 7 but am going to get to the bottom of this when I return, simply for the sake of it lol.

Glenn 8675309

Brainiac

Error code 209 is a permissions error code.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

@bernd_5706, it looks like you were cross-posting with me. Did you see my response? (I agree with Glenn that you will be better off updating your version of Elements. There have been many new and improved features since version 9. But I try not to spend other people's money. 😉)

B

bernd_5706Author

Participating Frequently

Yes I did Greg and shall give that a try tomorrow and, if it does not work, shall purchase a newer version. It's not like this will pull food off my table lol.

Cheers

Bernd

Peru Bob

Community Expert

@bernd_5706

Please let us know if it worked for you.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

I know of several users who have successfully activated a legacy version of Elements offline when faced with the same problem as you. So, it is at least worth a try if you don't want to buy a new version. Unfortunately, the link to the offline instructions is being misdirected. I hope that is not an ominous sign. You therefore need to go to this link on Archive.org for the instructions to perform offline activation. (It may take a few seconds to load the page.)

Please let us know if you are successful.

Glenn 8675309

Brainiac

Basically you don't. Adobe can no longer reset activation counts (A policy they implemented 1 year ago). Some may suggest trying to activate off line, however, I am not aware of that working for anyone.

BOTTOM LINE: You can forget about using PSE 9.

B

bernd_5706Author

Participating Frequently

Thanks for your reply Glenn, and it's basically what I figured.

Oh well, old(er) software and time to move on lol.

Thanks again Glenn 🙂

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