*** From the Archives ***
This article is from May 23, 2008, and is no longer current.
CS3 Activation Limits
By now everyone’s familiar with software activation so I’m not going to go into the explanations for it. While each company has its own system they all do pretty much the same thing. They control how many computers on which you can run the software. Notice I that I said run, not install.
With Adobe’s activation system, the user is permitted two activations in order to allow the use of work machine and home machine or even a laptop. It’s important note that this is with the provision that both machines are used by the same user and never at the same time. One of the major concerns users had was the legitimate use of more than two machines. To accommodate users in that catagory when CS2 was released, it contained a transfer activation feature. A few clicks and the software was deactivated on one machine and this allowed for activation on another.
This was a boon to anyone with two offices and a laptop. That person could install the software on all three machines and simply deactivate one of the office machine and activate the laptop. With this system Adobe hoped to control “casual piracy” and still allow honest users to easily move their activations between machines while still stopping multi seat users from buying one license and installing it on multiple machines.
It’s recently come to light though various topics in the User to User forums that the CS3 activation system, while still allowing for deactivation, has a hard limit of 20 activation/deactivation cycles. The fact that it’s taken a year to be exposed tells me that there’s not all that many people testing the limit of the system, but it’s still important for users to be aware that it exists. The last thing you want to do is deactivate your office machine and find out that you’ve hit that limit when you get to a client’s office when trying to activate your laptop.
Should you get bitten by this you can call Adobe and get 5 more activations but that’s not always practical. So, if you’re among those juggling more than two machines with one license please keep careful tabs on that count.
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It’s mind-boggling to me that Adobe is still sticking with its draconian activation system. Not only is a royal pain for legitimate, paying customers in many situations, from what I’ve observed in the real world, it’s completely ineffective. Case in point. I teach a photoshop class and had a student seek advice about how to move all the related photoshop brushes, plug-ins, etc. over to a new machine. After giving my $.02 on what folders to copy, and so forth I reminded him about the deactivation/reactivation process to which he replied “Don’t worry bro, don’t need to activate, got a crack”. I was sort of stunned that he would so brazenly admit to being a pirate, but also that he wasn’t deterred or shamed in any way. I then asked my students, in an anonymous fashion, how many have legitimate copies (about 50%) and why they saw fit to steal the software. The answers varied in their exact words, but they were basically all the same in saying that for their limited uses, and for the purposes of learning either they thought it was too expensive or they just couldn’t afford it. None found it difficult to get whatever pirated copies they had. Just one sample, but this activation system business clearly seemed useless.
This got me thinking about what other vendors do. Autodesk, with Maya for example, provides a completely free learning edition that has full functionality but limits the resolution of renders as well as adding a watermark. Maybe Adobe should consider this. It has been suggested by some that “casual piracy”, as Bob put it, actually helps Adobe. Increasing the adoption and skill pool for their software- That many serious users migrate up to companies or situations where legit software is bought. I don’t know. But I do know that for a company to tell you how many times a legitimate user can use or move something they bought, that seems like a reason for even more people to do the wrong thing.
-Bob August
I was already bitten and Adobe gave me a few more. I can sort of understand Adobe’s reason for doing this but they could at least add a count down indicator on the activation panel to let you know how many you have left.
Even without activation those students would be stealing it. Next time you hear someone use the same type of logic ask them if it would be okay to steal a car to learn how to drive because they couldn’t afford to buy one.
Unfortunately, software pirates see this as a victimless crime and it’s the legitimate customer that suffers because of it.
I didn’t post this info to get into a piracy debate, though. I posted it to makes folks aware of the limitations as they exist in CS3.
In general, I’ve been surprised at how easy the activation/deactivation process has been with InDesign (and the CS). But I do wish Adobe would allow unlimited deactivations/activations. The limit makes no sense to me. After all, Adobe can track activation trends for each serial number, so if they suddenly see suspicious activity, they could contact the owner, much like a credit card company handles potential credit card fraud.
The one activation feature I really wish Adobe would implement, however, is a little utility that deactivates without having to launch any of the programs. For example, someone might accidentally delete the Suite without first deactivating it (I speak from first hand experience here). It would be so nice to be able to just run a script or utility to deactivate at that point.
Apple with iTunes lets you authorise upto 5 machines to playback music on and then deauthorise them all on their website. I know this keeps in mind that that people have an internet connection but the facility is out there in some fashion.
As for students I think that collegues and universities could try harder to help their students get legitimate copies of software like being able to buy copies on easily campus and maybe at a subsidied (by the institution) rate.
Adobe I think are going the right way by offering free/lite versions of their products to those people that want to do a bit of editing but not full blown commerical applications.
InDesign Elements anyone?
When I see how many designers use cracked versions of CS3 found on the Internet… I just wonder why Adobe bothers people who paid the licence and then have to justify themselves when they need to reinstall a licence after a complete crash of the PC or because the PC has been stolen.
I love the way Maya’s authorization is done: a hardware dongle. Just install the software where-ever you wish, but unless the USB dongle is in the computer and the matching license info has been inputted, the software won’t even launch.
I’ve had a lot of folks ask me for my copies of (parts of) the Creative Suite 2 and now 3, both for home and professional use. I won’t lend anyone my discs, as there are plenty of alternatives for home users, and people who make money using the software really shouldn’t even think about pirating.
The main problem I have with Adobe’s (seeming) lack of action against piracy is that there are now thousands of folks who own a pirated copy of Photoshop (even CS3) and therefore believe they’re good at it. It costs people like myself a lot of money as I can’t charge what I used to because people believe they can do everything themselves.
Yes, I do a better job, but saving a few Euros is more important than having something look professional…
I agree that there has to be a better way but that better way is not a hardware dongle.
No way in the world that’s going to fly with the user community.
Hardware dongle would be suicide for Adobe. Not only would their costs for dealing with the customer support nightmares of that skyrocket, companies like mine who have site licenses for the CS would drop it almost instantly. We used to use Maya for somethings but have moved to C4D and Modo because they have reasonable and easy to administer registration solutions.
I have to say that I am blown away by this. How dare Adobe tell me I can’t de-active and re-activate my software more than 20 times. You know? when I purchased my copy of CS3 Design Premium I had the opportunity to use a stolen copy that was fully activated. The activation scheme was totally cracked and as far as I know the software is still working today cracked and stolen. I chose to purchase the software even though it was much more expensive than I could really afford. I wanted to be honest and more than that I wanted to support the company that makes the software. When CS4 is released I don’t know that I will make the same choice. And for the record it’s ridiculous of Adobe to think for a minute that the activation scheme has slowed down piracy of the software in the least. When CS4 is released the activation or whatever methods they employ will be cracked within days of the release. That is FACT.
I ask? How can Adobe think this is a good business decision? It’s like a slap in the face to the honest people who try to give Adobe our money and do the right thing. Maybe they are trying to push us to the point that we steal the software instead. Sure seems like it.
I need to create a new user account to enable a colleague to use my mac without messing up all my settings. For some reason though Indesign will not launch on that other user account ? whereas all other CS apps will. Anyone steer me towards a workaround?
The activation swap limit is absolutely silly, for all the reasons mentioned above. I am sure the piracy has a workaround for the activation scheme – I believe site license cracks, which don’t require activation, is the way it’s done.
I have never had a need to do this, save for during a machine upgrade, but it seems that those that would need to do this would need to do so more than 20 times.
Since the only way to activate a new machine is to deactivate another, I can’t see how this is in any means a piracy prevention method.
It amazes me how many “professionals” got where they are by not so legal methods and then get all arrogant about their greatness. They are the same people who refuse to help others and are the toughest to work within a work team. If all those folks actually paid for their licenses, perhaps Adobe could charge less for their products.
I got to your blog via a thread on the adobe forum. I agree, the activation / deactivation thing is both a pain and a necessary evil. What I don’t hear about is suggestions for Adobe of another alternative. Any ideas? They won’t change until they get a better way of trying to combat the pirates.
Therein lies the problem. Everyone hates activation but nobody has much of an alternative besides simply opening everything back up like it used to be.
That’s just not going to happen.
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Adobe is a monopoly and is abusing their control over the market to drive up prices. Their licensing program is ridiculous. I had my old laptop broken, and now i cant install cs3 on new laptop because it is still activated on old one. So i need to dish out another 18 hundered just to buy software i already bought! Also, people pirate and use ways to get around the license and activation systems because the rates are insane!
Two points here Tom.
If you were denied activation you should have been given a phone number to call. Use it and explain the situation. There should be no problem getting your activation counter reset.
Secondly, people pirate software because they’re thieves and wouldn’t pay for it if cost $18.00 instead of $1,800.00.
Bob, I disagree completely. If the software was $18.00 I would pay for it. Thats not a difficult decision to make, $1,800.00 is another story.
“Therein lies the problem. Everyone hates activation but nobody has much of an alternative besides simply opening everything back up like it used to be.
That?s just not going to happen.”
Things are exactly “like it used to be” for pirates. The only ones it’s different for is paying customers. What a dumb idea.
I found this site searching for activation tips. I paid $2000 for CS3 – upgrade, at that. I use it professionally, so no hesitation, but I do like to work at home, as well.
This one activation w/20 limit is absolutely absurd. At least Macromedia had the decency to allow two activations, thus allowing a second work machine (ideal for situations like mine.) Now Adobe decides where and when I should work? Single activation I can deal with, even with the headache that it is, but to limit such an expensive professional product is both frustrating and offensive.
As far as providing an alternative – I don’t ever remember receiving an R&D check from Adobe, let alone a discount for offering my ‘professional opinion.’
Dom,
Where did you get the idea that you only got a single activation?
You get TWO concurrent activations.
The problem arises when a third computer gets thrown into the mix and that’s when you have to start worrying about the 20 reactivations.
Just found this blog and am grateful to gain some insight into the activation limits. But those limits are both shortsightedly punitive and completely ineffectual.
Honest customers end up paying more while the cost to pirates remains the same (free). We are hobbled by limited usage rights while pirates are not. So how are Adobe’s practices combating piracy? How are they making one iota of difference to software pirates? It sounds to me as if Adobe is simply increasing their price simply to make up for (perceived) loss from piracy. Meanwhile, their actions are probably having a reverse effect, compelling normally honest folk to raise the Jolly Roger.
A few posters above had the right of it: as you decrease your price point, you increase the number of buyers. That’s Capitalism 101. While there may be some inveterate software pirates doing it just for the thrill of breaking the law, it’s more likely that most of them would buy if they could afford it.
Well, the thing is, I did call the number provided, and I told them my laptop was stolen and I cannot install my program that I already purchased on my new computer because the old one still had it installed, and guess what their answer was? Tough cookies!
So now I have to go spend another 2 grand to buy software I already have purchased! Fair?
Tom, installation has nothing to do with activation. You can install it on a thousand machines. But you can only activate two.
I find it very difficult to believe that you were turned down if all you had were two activations. This type of thing happens quite often this is the first time I’ve seen a report of someone being turned down.
Call back and insist on speaking to a supervisor.
Tom, surely Adobe could cancel the activations of the other software you have, provide you with new serial numbers and activation codes. Does Adobe really want stolen software being used by unscrupulous people? Surely they can deactivate that activation number and supply new ones?
Eugene, as far as I know they can’t do that. Once the software is activated, that’s it.
What they could do is supply a new serial number and mark the other as pirated and refuse any further activations.
I thought I said that? Well that’s what I meant… sorry for the confusion. I did say “provide new serials” from that point new activation codes.
What could have hapened was that someone else used your key without you knowing!
I have two legal copies of Photoshop CS3, but because of my frequent hardware upgrades I appear to have gone through the allowed number of activations for both. There has been a deafening silence from Adobe. If anyone has a suggestion I would welcome it, but I am not interested in giving them any further payment.
First of all it?s a great post I really appreciate your insight on the activation issue!!
The activation, DRM discussion in my opinion not so much about piracy. The pirates will always be there and I am sad to say that Adobe products bundled with a crack is sometimes easier to resolve technical issues with than an original (Yes I did pirate when I was in collage until I could afford my first CS bundle).
In my view the Activation limits has developed in order to limit the second hand market of Adobe software. Imagine how lucrative it would if companies could buy an upgrade version CS 5, or what they are going to name it, and sell the old CS 4 license for, lets say, just a third of the normal retail price.
I think it is in this is the real reason why we are faced with the annoying fact of DRM.
Adobe is a great creative and innovative company, but their business strategy in not and does in my opinion hurt their sales and their ability to reach more mainstream professionals that could also benefit greatly from Adobes products. I really hope they will change their strategy in the future, so especially we geeky Adobe users that have fun modding hardware don?t have to many activation nightmares.
Look at the pricing structure for upgrades and you’ll see that YOU, previous CS customers, are being tapped as a semi-hostage revenue stream! They’ve made owning and upgrading their software something to be dreaded. Customer Service quality has declined. Overall quality has declined.
MicroSoft, IMO, has gone this route …hostage users, forcing upgrades, poor support. The day is not here yet, but users have a breaking point. And when that point is reached they will leave in droves …witness IE >Firefox.
[…] found it: CS3 Activation Limits – a post by Bob Levine over a year ago. To my amazement I am informed that CS3 has only 20 […]
It seems that Adobe will be removing the deactivation limit very soon – see the following comments made by an Adobe staff member.
The current deactivation limit applies to CS3 and CS4 products equally. It will be removed for all Adobe products as soon as we finish up the work on our side, including CS3 and CS4 and future versions.
link
We’ve finished the implementation and testing tasks required to remove the deactivation limit. We’re now trying to schedule the date when the changes go live. Hopefully it will be very soon. (Jan 6th 2010)
link
Is there a limit on the activation with the educational editions. I have always used ms publisher but everybody says I should try indesign. As a p/t student I have 3 home computers and would like to put a suite onto all three.
Student versions are permitted one installation only. Academic versions I believe get two.
The rules vary by region so you’re best off checking with the local Adobe offices.
So what happens if your computer suddenly dies and your no longer able to deactivate it on that machine. You can buy another computer but you won’t be able to activate CS3 as it’s still logged as activated on the dead machine.
Also this is a big trap for users unaware of this deactivation process. Imagine wiping your hard drive and selling your computer, only to discover you can activate CS3 on the new machine.
Ricky…please read the comments by JP on 1/12/10. These limits have been removed.
As for your question about dead computers, you simply call Adobe and explain the dead harddrive and they give you a new activation code.
The entire process takes about 5 minutes and you’ll have month to do it.
How strange it was to find out that i had too many activations.
I have the software and installed it from a disk as well as using my own serial (or whatever its called)
I format my computers quite a lot because there is a lot of junk and i dont like running virus scanners (mainly because they slow the computer as much as if you had a virus and op systems were never meant to run for years and years)
I have never reinstalled twice on the same night though on both laptop and desktop (which i did tonight) and my lappy was refused. I will probably call adobe tomorrow, however I know i will reinstall at least two more times on each computer this year and burn though the extra five activations.
Even though I have a legit copy of adobe it really makes me think that its a pain in the ass to keep calling and that i should just crack the program.
What a pain in the butt, but all of this has been said much more eloquently, so I will not reiterate.
@Drapeta: whatever the problem it had nothing to do with the limits discussed in the original post.
As already pointed out, those limits have been removed.
Bob,
The limits have not been removed (yet). Just got off a web chat with Adobe. They had to increase my activations, as I was left with just one, on my old laptop. My new laptop refused to activate until the limit was increased.
That said, perhaps it was because I have lost activations due to crashes/stupidity etc. :-) I can’t imagine I have activated 20 times, but I definitely lost one to a crash.
If you lost an activation due to a harddrive crash, that’s a completely different story.
This is about activation cycles and the limit of 20 has been lifted.
Do these activation limits still exist in the new versions of the software? I have an office, home office and a laptop that I would like to use the software on. Since its a big investment I think its important to be aware of this. Thank for the great article, as you said nobody seems to be testing these limitations.
@Emagrecer. No, in fact they don’t even exist in earlier versions anymore as Adobe has lifted them.
I don’t condone pirated software but Adobe is still a pain to work with when it comes to activation of the CS3 product. I installed my suite on a desktop two years ago. Early this year I changed email carriers so my email address changed. After Windows 7 came out I upgraded so I had to perform a reload – no problem I was covered.
The problem occured three weeks ago when I had a hard drive crash and I had to do another reload. I received the famous “Too Many Activations” notice.
I called Adobe Customer service and spoke to a nice gentleman from India and explained the chain of events and the problem I was having. I was told I had to deactivate one of the installs – I explained a second time that I could not deactivate since the system had crashed. I provided the serial number from my case. Twenty minutes later he came back on the line and told me that he needed the email address that registered the software which I provided. He advised that before he could work with me he had to get confirmation from the email address that registered the software that it was OK to force a “Deactivation”. I explained for the third time that I had changed email addresses and no longer had access to the original email account. After an hour of trying to get it resolved I asked to speak to a supervisor.
I was on hold for an additional 14 minutes before a supervisor came on the line. I re-explained everything to him and asked for assistance. He said he would like to help and asked for the serial number which I provided. Five minutes later I was again asked – “can you provide me with the email address used to register your software so I can send a confirmation email to get approval for the forced deactivation? Then we can take care of it for you?” AARRRGGGG I thought. I again explained that I had changed email carriers and the registration address was no longer valid since I could not receive a confirmation email. I was politely informed that they could not help since I could not confirm using the old email address. Two hours on the phone.
In a nutshell – because of this I have a $1,700 Gray colored drink coaster.
@Mac Day. This problem is not handled by Adobe Customer Service. There should have been a phone number on the activation denial screen to call.
As for the email, log into your Adobe account using your Adobe ID and change the email address there.
Having installed CS3 on an old hard drive that didn’t migrate over to the new hard drive because of copyright issues and the backup and restore program failing to recognize a customer’s need to upgrade has caused a critical problem with my activating my LEGAL copy of Adobe Photoshop.
The old operating system isn’t really workable…
Any reason why I shouldn’t be upset over this?
As soon as I can get away from Adobe I will. Their activation system is nonsense, and their software is full of disasters and fixes that weren’t broken in the first place. Pshop could be a much better piece of software, and the day someone gets there, I will be gone forever.
If you lost an activation due to a harddrive crash, that?s a completely different story.
so i just bought a used copy of cs3 from someone and the licences dont work. Can i can adobe and try and get them for cs3 or am i forced to just get cs6?
@Tom: If the license doesn’t work, then get your money back, as the software’s no good without it. If it was a legitimate sale (“transfer of license”), you could try calling Adobe to figure out what’s going wrong.