Is it possible to install PE 15 and PE 2022 in Windows 11?

[Levalt]

I used to have PE 15 and PE 2022 installed on my desktop in Windows 10 envoronment. I used PE 2022 for editing and had my final project in mp4 format. Then I loaded this project in mp4 format into PE 15, added menu/submenus and created both ISO image and blu ray disk for the project. Unfortunately my 10-year old computer died and my new desktop has preinstalled Windows 11. I have PE 15 and PE 2022 on CDs but can't load these applications into my new computer. The installation freezes and I have an impression that there is a compatibility problem with Windows 11.  Is there a way to load PE 15 and PE 2022 into a new computer and make them work in Windows 11 environment?

Thanks. Lev.

[John T Smith]

Two ideas that MAY work to install and/or run old programs in Windows 10 or Windows 11
-RIGHT click the program icon or EXE and select a compatibility mode in the pop up option window
-and/or select Run as Administrator to assign FULL Windows permissions
-also https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/create-local-administrator-account-windows.html

What is your brand/model video card and what driver?

NOTE I have 4 very old IGT Slot games that I installed on Win11 (32bit x86 mode)
I did not have to select a compatibility mode or run as Admin... Win11 just accepted them
So in my experience Microsoft has done a very good job with backwards compatibility
Program EXE dated 10-07-2015 Game of the Gods
Program EXE dated 03-06-2012 Diamond Galaxy
Program EXE dated 11-18-2011 Lucky Larry
Program EXE dated 08-04-2010 Wolf Run

[Levalt]

I have NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Graphics Card.

[John T Smith]

Are you using the recommended STUDIO driver, or the usual default Gaming driver?

[Levalt]

Game ready driver.

[John T Smith]

nVidia Driver Downloads https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
-for all Adobe programs use the STUDIO driver, not the GAMING driver
-To achieve the highest level of reliability, Studio Drivers undergo extensive
-testing against multi-app creator workflows and multiple revisions of the top
-creative applications from Adobe to Autodesk and beyond

[Levalt]

I got to NVIDIA Control Panel and actually found out that I have NVIDIA DCH driver. If I understand it correctly all updates will now go through Microsft Store that updates the whole NVIDIA Control Panel. I believe if I need any update Microsoft will indorm me and will do it for me.

[Sherry25168319b727 · Accepted solution]

I was finally able to get PE 14 to work in Win 11 after a long struggle. There was reliance on use of IE to sign in which is no longer part of the Windows OS. I downloaded a trial version of PE 2024 to test being able to install before buying. I ran into a missing dll file which I was able to fix with a fresh upload of the Visual C++ Redistributable. I then had to clear my cache to finally get a working prompt to enter my AdobeID and password. Once it was working, I signed in during PE 14 setup successfully. Was then prompted to enter my product key to complete installation. Guess I won't need to upgrade to PE 2024 after all!

[John T Smith]

Once everything on your new computer is working properly you should think about cloning the hard drive to a backup

The product I bought and use is at http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-linux.htm
Note that I get NO benefit if you buy the program, I only use it and like what it does

Image runs off of a bootable CD or USB Flash Drive via Linux (the Zip you download includes a program to make the CD or USB, program uses less than 1Gig) and it reads EVERYTHING on the drive, even the hidden registration information, so everything is restored when needed... and you may not only restore the image over a messed up install, you may restore to a brand new drive in case of a hardware crash, and not have to re-install anything

My C drive is currently at 102Gig and the compressed clone file is 44Gig... I have 3 drives in my computer so I have the program write the clone file to my 3rd drive... if you don't have multiple drives I **think** the program will write the clone file to a large enough USB flash drive (you would need to have that destination flash drive plugged in when you restart your computer to go into Linux on a CD or flash drive, so Linux will 'see' the drive)

I have actually done this restore one time... when a program I bought had a faulty installer that totally mangled the Windows registry... I had done a restore before installing the bad program so I did not lose anything when I had to do the restore

[Levalt · Accepted solution]

Thank you very much Sherry.  Following your recommendations I downloaded a trial version of PE 2024 from Adobe website. The download process did not give me any error messages. Then I initiated PE 15 setup. This time I had no problem to get to my product key prompt and was able to successfully finish the installation. I repeted the process for PE 2022 and was able to install it as well. I also installed Photoshop Elements 2022 that I was not be able to install before too. My wild guess: Probably during PE 2024 istallation process Adobe made all versions of Adobe Elements compatible with Windows 11. Your brilliant advice helped me and most likely will help many users who are struggling to use old Adobe versions in Windows 11 environment.

[Levalt]

Folks who ran into the same problem while trying to download an old version of PE please let us know if you were successful using our approach in having PE version prior to 2024 up and running in Windows 11.