Product key not validated after moving PE to new PC (deactivated on old one)

[ac747]

Hi, I have used Photoshop Elements for few years now across few PCs. I am satisfied with its features and don't need to upgrade to newer version.

Recently I was moving from my old Surface Pro 7 to new Dell XPS 13, so deactvated (signed out) of PE on Surface, installed on Dell and entered product key.

After completing install, there is a popup saying the product key cannot be validated because it was shared / expired / etc. I have never shared this key, and actually I have a box install where it is imprinted.

I am a bit concerned by this behavior - I purchased a product so I should be able to use it on as many PCs as I wish, after I upgrade to new one.

Kindly please help with getting installation validated. On the website I did not find any other support channels than this forum.

[Greg_S. · Accepted solution]

What version are you trying to install?  You can only activate the program on two machines (and use it on only one at a time).  If you have exceeded the number of activations, and do not have access to other machines that may still be activated, you can contact support and ask them to deactivate all machines. In my experience, you can use a support chat session to accomplish the task. If you meet any resistance, be persistent with the support person and, if necessary, ask for a supervisor.  Support is the only place you can get this kind of help and they are required to give it, even on an older version of the program. 

You can start a chat session by clicking on the blue Contact Us button under theHelp and Support menu at Adobe.com. Or you can contact Support by telephone using the numbers listed here: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html.  Outside of the US, support hours are limited.

For more information on activation/deactivation, see this article.

[ac747]

Thank you Greg,

I am using Photoshop Elements 13. I was aware about 2 copies limit, so deregistered the previous one (signed out) before installing new one, this didn't help. On my Adobe account number of instalations shows as 0.

I have been using this copy previously on few my PCs (presiously Surface Pro 5, then Surface Pro 7, now moving to Dell), but I always remembered to sign out on old PC, before movint to the new one so strange anyway.

I will contact suport as you suggest and let's see. Thanks for the hint - I was struggling to find it on Adobe product pages how t get in touch with support and totally missed this button. I will post here how it ends.

Cheers,

Adam

[MichelBParis]

Thank you Greg,

I am using Photoshop Elements 13. I was aware about 2 copies limit, so deregistered the previous one (signed out) before installing new one, this didn't help. On my Adobe account number of instalations shows as 0.

Adam

By @ac747

@ac747 ac

Adam, I used to believe that the account number of installations on my account only deals with my Creative Cloud subscription, not to the number of activations on PSE 'products' which appear nowhere.

I may be wrong, but here is what I see now on my account:

- 2 activations on two different computers (I assume for the Creative Cloud. I have only bridge, ACR and Acrobat installed now)

- Nothing for the many old versions of Elements installed on maximum 2 computers each. I needed a second PSE2022 license for my wife, so I have installed each of both licenses on two computers, 4 in all.

I still believe that only Adobe Staff can know the number of activations for each PSE license.

Edit:

Did you deactivate for menu Help >> sign out from the PSE editor or from your Adobe account?

[ac747]

Thanks again, Greg.

Adobe support was able to help me - re-enabled the key so I could finalize the install. Thanks for your hints!

Cheers,

A