How do I get my old paid version of Premiere?

[Jim29076064ylkc]

Many years ago when I first got my Mac, I bought Premiere. I used it for a while but then I found Final Cut X, and liked it so much that I got a bit carried away and deleted Premiere. Silly move, really.

Well, the other day I was searching my Mac for old files and I found the serial number that I had for Premiere, saved as an rtf.

So, I thought I might as well go back and get Premiere again, since I already owned it, and add it to my NLEs. Unfortunately, I found that it's no longer available, having been replaced by Premiere Pro.

Now, I don't want Premiere enough to buy a whole new version, I just want my old one to use occasionally when I need some of its features. But I've read elsewhere here that you can't get Premiere ever again, even if you've already bought and paid for it..

Is this in fact the case? Is there any way to get that previous purchased program back? 

Thanks. 

[MyerPj]

I don't think you'll be able to, I believe Adobe took down all the old activation servers. We're for the most part Adobe users here on the forum, but can contact Adobe here: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html

[Jim29076064ylkc]

Well, that's a pity. I'll try conracting them at that link. Thanks. 

[Ann Bens]

Which version are you referring to?

[Jim29076064ylkc]

I can't quite remember, Ann. I bought it many years ago, back when I bought my first Mac. That was around 2011 or 12.  The Mac had OS 10.6.8 on it, so I assume I got it, the Mac, shortly after then. And I would have got Premiere very soon afterwards, as I was keen to get into video editing with the Mac.

In any case, I'm probably totally out of luck, because I no longer have the email address that I most likely would have used to do the purchase..  

[Ann Bens]

If you cannot remember the version then its end of the line.

[Jim29076064ylkc]

Well, it just goes to show what a few too many summers can do to one's brain... I looked through all my hard drives to see if I could find anything, and voila, one of them had all the documentation and (I think) installation files for Premiere Pro Version 2, saved on it .....for Windows! The tricks your mind can play on you! I haven't explored them through yet, as I've got other things on my plate at the moment, but it looks promising. I'm thinking that if I saved all the peripheral files for the program, I very likely have the installation files also. Fingers crosssed.

But, having said all that, I'm now wondering why I ditched it in the first place. Maybe I couldn't get my head around video editing at all. Later, when I bought a Mac, and got other programs, like Pinnacle and Final Cut Expresss, (and got familiar with editing through iMovie}, I got better. So then I decided to get Final Cut X, and I haven't looked back.

Well, except for now.  So, thanks you, all, for your help. I'm thunking maybe it was a pointless exercise though, unless Premiere has some wonderful features that I've forgotten about. 🙂

Bit disappointing, though, to know that Adobe removes the sources of products that they're already sold to people. In the digital world, that's bad practice, imo.

[John T Smith]

That MAY have been CS5 or CS6

-Log in to your Adobe account and click this link https://account.adobe.com/products
--IF a download is available there will be a Download button under the program name
---as always, write the serial number in a text file AND copy that text file and the
---download file(s) to an external drive (or two) to be sure you always have what you need
---since Adobe DOES sometimes remove very old downloads from their file server

[Ann Bens]

@John T Smith 

One cannot download the old software anymore.  All one sees is the serial number.

[Jim29076064ylkc]

Well, all good now. The files I had stored when I deleted the program were all there, and the installation worked, and the serial number, of course worked too.  

So I've been lucky twice this month, finding my old Audition program and serial number, and now my old Premiere and number. 

Happy days.

Thanks, everyone, for your inputs. 

[MyerPj]

Well done. It's a good testament to archiving the old/current harddrives when switching to another, bigger, faster, etc.

[Jim29076064ylkc]

Well actually, to be honest, all I did was to save the files for those particular programs on an external drive, not the whole hard drive. But yes, it's always a good idea to save everything, just in case you change your mind one day and want it back. 🙂