How to Activate CS5.5 Offline!

[allan=ia]

I have a legitimate copy of CS5.5. Recently an MS update BSOD'd my SP4 (3rd time in two years - Grrr). I've reinstalled my CS5.5 (Acrobat and Dreamweaver only), but cannot activate online. I believe this is because my ISP now uses CG-NAT, so in effect I am double NATed and as a result CS5.5 thinks that I'm not connected to the internet - I AM, I'm posting this.

I was directed to an offline activation page, but CS5.5 does not generate activation request codes (it was designed in the days of telephone activation). CS5.5 only provides me with information that was meant to be given to adobe to validate the product. So how can I perform an offline activation for CS5.5?

[simplex19]

Add me to the tally of people who have been running in circles trying to fix this activation issue. I am thankful for the existence of this thread to validate that what I encountered isn't any fault of my PC or installation steps. 

I contacted Adobe support back on 30 Dec and was told to download their copy of the installer to reinstall CS5.5, which I diligently did. Was none the wiser then that the activation problem did not get resolved as the activation prompt only appears 7 days later. Contacted Adobe support once again on 6 Jan and pointed out to the rep about the seemingly dead CS5.5 activation server (http error 503) but the rep flat out denied the problem and went into the usual refrain of saying that CS5.5 is old and would not work on Windows 10 which is untrue as the only problem was with activation.

After reading this thread, I reached out for the third time today to Adobe support. Pointed the rep to this thread but it seemed that that didn't make a difference so I compliantly went through a remote session with the rep and he kindly reinstalled CS5.5 for me despite me telling him that I took the same exact 'troubleshooting' step just a week ago on the advice of the first rep. Right after the reinstallation was completed he confidently declared that my problem was resolved which I obviously rubbished. Requested that my case not be closed as I am sure that the activation window will once again pop up a week later but to my dismay an email notified me that my case was closed.

Really hoping that others facing the same issue will chime in and we could get a proper solution from Adobe. If there's any use, my case numbers are ADB-10640051-W9N8, ADB-10726774-R8J2 and ADB-10758121-W6M1.

[John T Smith]

I have NO idea why you are having activation problems, but as a test I installed Soundbooth CS5 from my Master Collection set... installed and activated without a problem, and just started the program a minute ago and loaded a sound file... no warnings of any kind

[allan=ia]

Just because something worked for you does not make it the correct answer. As the originator of this thread, I will mark a correct answer when/if my CS5.5 product can be activated. If you follow the thread you will see that I still have an active case with Adobe support and that they themselves have not been able to activate my software despite having spent over 6 hours logged into my PC and trying. Also there are heaps of others here reporting the same problem.

[Richardnz]

Adobe support have already told me that they are aware that there are problems with the CS5.5 activation server. Soundbooth is an older piece of  individual piece of software, and it is also not included at all with CS 5.5 master suite, it was replaced with Audition. So installing a single title it is not the same as installing an enitire suite, which actvitives a big block of software titles in one go when it is initally  installed. As I said previously, only after being provided with the download version of Creative suite by support (I was told by adobe support that  DVD version will no longer activiate after changes adobe had made), and also beng provided with a new serial number, only then would some of the software activate. Prior to that, I also got this internet connection error that everyone else here is getting. However some of the software including Adobe media encoder for premiere came up with a warning that some of the software wasn't activated, so it refused to start. When remote support did the install for me recently, they could see that some of the 'deactviate' buttons on some of the menus for some software were greyed out, but told me that eventually they will activate, and it can take a while to occur, but I don't think they really knew. But I am still having problems and can't use encode at all. As the single title install worked for you , you may also have the newer version of the software, as it seems to be teh DVD version that is one of the issues, and also you may  have a newer serial, or one that isn't affected. I suspect it may have something to do with the actviation count on older numbers

[John T Smith]

>worked for you does not make it the correct answer.

I did not mark anything as correct... I only posted MY result with CS5 activation

[Richardnz]

I got the following email notification that said that this thread now has the correct asnwer, so I came back to this thread as I wanted to see what the correct answer was. So someone appears to have tagged your reply as the correct answer. Who is able to tag replies as correct answers? I am guessing someone did it in error?

Adobe Support Community

Hi Richardnz,
A post you are following has a correct answer.
________________________________________
Post: How to Activate CS5.5 Offline!

I have NO idea why you are having activation problems, but as a test I installed Soundbooth CS5 from my Master Collection set... installed and activated without a problem, and just started the program a minute ago and loaded a sound file... no warnings of any kind

[allan=ia]

Who is able to tag replies as correct answers? I am guessing someone did it in error?

I believe that as the originator that I can mark an answer as correct. I suspect also that Mods can mark an answer as correct as this has happened a couple of times now. I can unmark an answer marked as correct to ensure that the thread remains open. I've wondered if someone from Adobe will try and shut me out for continuing to highlight this issue. If they do, then we'll know that they want this problem to just go away. Of course they could also just contact support and get them to provide me with a real solution, then this thread would have a solution marked as correct <grin>.

[allan=ia]

Apologies John my bad for assuming it was you. It was marked as the correct answer. It's not the first time someone (from Adobe?) has marked an answer as correct which was not.

John, it may be interesting to see if your software comes up with a problem in a week from now. It seems that the CS5.5 software accepts the serial number and then tries quietly in the background to activate. After a week of failing, then it will pop up the activation window.

Adobe mods, etc, please note, this thread does not yet have a correct solution. The problem continues to exist and the posts to this thread indicate that its ongoing existence is helpful to people. The issue continues to be a problem and it seems to be that the older installer software is no longer working and later installers which do work do not accept the original serial numbers so you need a new one - that seems to be the solution for those who have got theirs working.  (perhaps, maybe, who knows except Adobe who are not saying). However Adobe support do not automatically flag that as the problem or the solution and continue to fob people off with comments such as it not working under Windows 10 - WRONG, or simply saying (on the phone) that they'll provide the new serial number by email in the next 48 hours (mid-December) and then not getting around to providing it and then not responding (my situation). Until we have a definitive solution that works for everyone, then we do not have a correct answer.

[simplex19]

Fully agreed, this thread should stay open for those stuck in this activation limbo until an appropriate solution is given. At least a channel remains open for us to share whatever next steps we could take at a time when our support cases keep seemingly get closed despite the problem not getting resolved. The reason why I fully cooperated with the support rep in troubleshooting this issue is for the hope that the case can get escalated and the problem be acknowledged.

The only consolation for me is that I am mainly using my CS5.5 Web Premium licence to use Acrobat Pro which is not that essential to my workflow, but that's beside the point. 

[Kumde]

Hello everyone,

I am glad I came across this thread (thanks allan_ia for the link from another thread). I am from France, so I support the idea this is not a specific issue with the pacific time zone as I have seen in other comments.

I am trying to deactivate my CS5.5 Production Premium (volume license) from the menu in Photoshop. Unfortunately, I came across the same problem as the activation process everyone else has described: the deactivation screen thinks I am currently offline, telling me "Please connect to the Internet, then press Continue". This is quite bothersome because I want to upgrade my Windows 7 installation which reaches its end of life. But I am kind of stuck, because I do not want to spend days (nor weeks!) contacting the support just to activate the product; this would be ridiculous, won't we agree?

So, for those who already have valid local licensing data, is there a way to export them to be copied back on the new computer? Or maybe, as the licensing server is not functional, may I attempt to just upgrade my OS without uninstalling the software and hope there will be no license check nor activation attempt? Or should I give up and open a ticket?

Thank you for your insight, I hope this issue will be resolved in a proper way soon.

[Kumde]

Hello everyone and thank you for your messages.

After a few hours pondering about the need to upgrade my Win 7 Pro to Win 10 Pro vs. the risk of not having access to Photoshop, Illustrator, etc, I have finally decided to do the upgrade... and the good news is my Production Premium product is still activated. 😄 I don't know if the license checker will wake up soon, but for now, I didn't have any interruptions. My fingers are crossed!

I didn't contact the support yet, and frankly, I do not wish to.

Good luck for those who are still struggling with this issue!

[Richardnz]

@Kumde You will have to open a ticket, so they can give you a link to the downloadable version and a new serial. I was told that the DVD won't activate anymore beuase of changes they had made to their acvtiation server, so you will need to install it from the downloadable version.

I still have my ticket opn with them because they haven't answered my questions, and it is the most frustrating exprience because I think they are used to working from a flow chart. They then tried to upsell me to their cloud based subscription.  I have asked for the contact of a senior manager in the US office so I can get some answers,  but they won't provide it to me.

Also make sure you contact adobe support through the contact page on their website. Based on other threads, there appears to be  a lot of scammers on these adobe support forums pretending to be from adobe and they may direct message you. Some may ask you to email them back via @outlook.com or similar free email addresses, so ignore all of those people who may contact you directly.

[allan=ia]

Kumde, if you can get the link to the downloadable version (is it somewhere in this thread, I've forgotten), then your serial number should work with it, but the problem is you will not know until after you've installed Windows 10 and by that time your stuffed if it does not work. If you get it, then I suggest that you create an image backup of your Win 7 system so you can roll back if the upgrade fails.

As far as I can tell, no-one on this thread has had a fully acceptable solution, although some have a partial solution which works for the aspects that they use.

For my part, I'm now dead in the water. My Surface Pro 4, the BSOD of which caused my original problem, has now started to bulge, indicating that the battery is in a bad/dangerous state. So I'm currently working off a 10 year old desktop which I've forced back into service (they built them well back then). Given the lack of response from Adobe and my general stuckness with them, I cannot imagine trying to explain how I'm now on a different computer altogether. So I've finally given up. I have an alternative to Acrobat and Photoshop and I think I was the last person on the planet to successfully obtain an activation code for my old copy of Dreamweaver CS3 just before they shut down the permanent activation servers last month. (Suspiciously, they seem to have shut down this process within days of my discovering how you could still access it.. I have a good economical alternative to Illustrator and Indesign if I ever need them again.

• My alternative to Acrobat is adequate and I can upgrade it to a product that would match all of the features of Acobat for a reasonable price if needed.
• My alternative to Photoshop is simply superior and cheaper in every way (and no I do not mean GIMP).
• Dreamweaver CS3 is not as good as Dreamweaver CS5.5, but I'll live with it - I mostly work directly in code in any case. It's more about updating a common template and CS3 still does that okay. I'll only need this for a couple more years.

So I'm over dealing with Adobe well and truly and will not purchase any Adobe products any time in the future.

As a aside, I'm also not impressed with an expensive Tablet that only lasts about 4-years before being totally un-economical to repair. The ethics of these corporations generally are not deserving of the money and social licence which we give them.

So I wish everyone who is still strugling with Adobe well and hopefully you will get some sort of solution eventually.

[ukgkgjghvj]

I wish I could use CS3, but I am one of those affected by the CS3 activation server being shutdown without notice. Then they appear to have removed the ability for me to download the special version of it without needing activation, also without notice. I have asked them kindly for the non activated version, which I believe they should have provided and notified all customers of it's availability as a matter of course, but they refused. Despite them only removing it a matter of weeks before I contacted them.So now I can't even use install and use the software I paid for, which I have a perpetual license for, which I certainly am not happy about.  I still have a ticket open on it, but there hasn't been any reply for ages. But I will have to contact the retailer who sold me it, and they will no doubt contact their wholesaler to try and resolve it.  If I had known that they had released this non activated version, and I would need to download it by a certain date, I would have done this. I presume CS5.5 will also suffer this same fate eventually when they turn off the activation server. I did get contacted by Adobe_Daniel_Berry on here only to discover that they were a scammer. Not a good experience, and the last place you expect to be conacted by scammers is on adobes own support community forums.

[dcrinnert]

I know exactly how you feel.  Same thing happened to me with CS3.

And, if you have any Fireworks files, you cannot open them in anything else as, so far as I have been able to determine, only Fireworks can open a Fireworks PNG.

[allan=ia]

Apparently Fireworks used a proprietary PNG format for layering which was never released, so no-one other than Adobe can read them. As of 2018, those with a CS subscription could still download the older Fireworks App, see https://community.adobe.com/t5/get-started/re-how-do-i-download-and-install-fireworks-cs6/td-p/98579...

I have no idea whether this still works - with Adobe retiring stuff with no notice anything is possible. You could ask on another thread if this is still possible.

If it still works, you could take out a current CS subscription and download the old CS6 Fireworks version. Use it to convert all of your layered Fireworks PNG files to PSD format and then cancel your subscription. Other program can read PSD files (including those of non-Adobe developers). Don't know if that helps, but could be worth investigating if you really need those files.

And of course, once you've converted the files, you could then drop the CS subscription.

[mccoy0995]

Hello everyone!

I, too, am a CS5.5 user that cannot deactivate a previous installation on an unsupported Windows 7 computer

nor activate on a new Windows 10 computer.

I have installed from a link sent to me by adobe support. installation went fine, activation is looking for live subscription info, which I do not have.

Can I please get some help with deactivation/activation and get back to work? only 22 days to go!

[Kumde]

I couldn't deactivate on my computer which had Win 7 Pro. So I have tried the OS upgrade to Win 10 Pro, and after one day of use, it still works (CS 5.5 pro)... I am not sure if it will get "unlicensed" at some point.

What is the live subscription info you are referring to? If CS Live, this service has been discontinued many years back, so you should not worry about it if the software works.

[allan=ia]

Yes, as Kumde says you should be able to ignore the Subsciption page and move on.

[Richardnz]

You can tell if it has activated or not, if the 'deactivate' button in help menu is greyed out. If it is't you will likely to get nag popups after about 10 days afetr installation to say it isn't actviated.

[mccoy0995]

Kumde,

Adobe support sent me a link to download CS5.5 instead of using the disk i have; which I did. After installation , I clicking the register link in help returns "Could not start your Adobe CS5.5 lie subscription. Try again later."

Since then I have heard from Tech support "you will need to use the installation files provided with your purchase. If you attempted to use a retail or volume license installation files then you will receive the message that the serial number is invalid. I also reviewed the activation history and we have never received an activation request so you should face no problems activating, once you have installed using the correct installation files."

My dilema: Adobe has not received an activation request because my software will not connect and send them one. However! I am getting a message from Adobe about disabling the software if I don't activate. HAHA! perfect!

Is the activate or be disabled message obsolete too?  

[simplex19]

I'm in the same situation as you, for me I have 20 days to go till I find out if my apps will be disabled or not (I do think that Adobe will ensure that happens even if the activation process is borked).

I honestly think that support is just leaving people like us wither on the vine hoping that those who absolutely need access to CS will pony up a CC subscription or just move on to other alternative programmes and let this thread die a natural death.

[mccoy0995]

simplex19... sure seems that way 

:'-(

[allan=ia]

WARNING Everyone.

I received a private message via this thread giving me an outlook.com email address that I could contact for support. This claimed to be from Adobe support. Adobe does not use Microsoft email addresses, so this is an obvious scam. If you get a private message via the forum from anyone, ensure that they are legitimate.

[ukgkgjghvj]

I received one of these same types of scam messages  a few weeks ago. The last place customers should be getting scammers contact them is on Adobes own community forums which they operate. They really should do somethng to authenticate people who use the forums, because initially I thought it looked quite legitimate, especially as Adobe don't actually have a direct email address on their website you can email them on for support.So I am guessing the scammers are playing on that.