Should I start learning something else?
System maintainence.
If you are constantly using system restore there’s something wrong someplace. I’ve been running XP for a year without so much as a hiccup.
Was your O/S install a clean install or an upgrade from a prior O/S? Was it the original image that came with the machine out of the box?
Bob
Bob,
Trust me, despite your somewhat arrongant response, you don’t want to know…
Bought a supposedly new top of the line model from a well-known company less than 3 weeks ago.
Windows doesn’t install… I call online support (?). They tell me that this is a common problem and that the only solution is to bring the computer back to the store. I bring the thing back to the store and get another one, after a somewhat lenghty negotiation.
I bring it back home. Windows doesn’t install… very same problem again. The vendor had assured me that the computer had been tested and there was no need to do the first startup in the store.
I have limited time for this kind of stupidity. I do not want to go back to the store and spend another 2 hours there. So I try to make the thing work by using some workarounds (been using these things since 1976, and I think I am not that illerate in "System maintainence"). Eventually works… after a lot of wasted time.
Then a number of problems arise, including certified drivers not working. Been working around those as well.
The price/feature ratio was too good to be true, I guess. I’ll get a Dell next time.
All of this being said, the CS activation/agravation was really not necessary.
Don’t throw away your loyal customers.
Same here XP since the day it was released. Rock solid. As for your internet connection being down, you could always call adobe to activate. (Not that that doesn’t suck, but at least it’d get you going.)
The PS CS standalone upgrade came with a Technical Information card in the box with some #’s you can call.
Factory installed images suck. The first thing you should do to any new computer is blow it out and reinstall Windows properly.
And if you think my prior response was arrogant, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Bob
I agree about factory installed images being lame. You don’t get a Windows CD anymore, however. You must burn the image on DVDs that you pay for, and you get only one try.
As for the rest of your message, I will assume that you were trying to be funny.
Dell provides the full WinXP CD. But you’re right, most others don’t. Just another reason to buy Dell.
And I wasn’t trying to be funny.
Bob
I will grant you that you can be even more arrogant than this, and that you were not trying to be humorous when stating so, for which you should be congratulated , being in customers’ relations and all. Keep up the good work.
Customer relations?? You must have me confused with someone who works here. BTW, all my advice comes with a triple your money back guarantee.
Let me know and I’ll have a claim form sent to you. 🙂
Bob
So, you’ve got a bum computer. . .even you admit that, and the activation has caused you problems how? The fact you’ve gone through so many gyrations indicates ANY application on your "computer" would be bound to have a short life? Could you be transfering your anger at Adobe for a bad purchase YOU made?
Just wondering cause it seems activation is the least of your problems at the moment. Sorry you’re having troubles but if a computer won’t accept the installation of a system, then it’s trash.
On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 19:07:28 -0800, wrote:
Michel, this is a User to User forum. Not Adobe customer service. For that go to:
<http://www.adobe.com/support/expert_support/main.html>
Wait!? How come everyone has a @adobeforums.com e-mail on this forum (except me)?
I thought that meant this was an Adobe forum. What gives?
So, you’ve got a bum computer. . .even you admit that,
The fact remains, he is using a legal license of Windows and a legal version of Photoshop on a newly purchased computer with a new clean install. He is attemtping to troubleshoot his system, and using features that are a valid part of the OS (restore) in a valid manner in an attempt to correct these problems, and he is running into problems with validation. If validation was truly TRANSPARENT, he would never have posted here, and have directed his obvious and righteous indignation at the merchant that sold him the computer. He still has a VALID complaint about activation..period!
Bob, as much as I respect your knowledge of the product and your willingness to help others, you have to admit you are an Adobe religious fabnatic, turning a blind eye to any deficiency as if every version were the Second Coming. Whichis okay, I guess, everybody has to believe in something…
you have to admit you are an Adobe religious fabnatic
Photoshop Taliban! 🙂
Not true. I’ve stated over and over again that I think Corel Draw has it all over Illustrator (and taken quite a bit of crap over it, too <g>) and I’ve even recommended Photopaint and a very good alternative to people not wanting to go through the "hassle" of activation and the high cost of Photoshop.
What I can’t understand is people with lousy computers blaming the software for not working properly. Do you remember the Asus motherboard fiasco awhile back? The only program that would freeze the computer was Photoshop. Even Asus admitted it was their fault but some people still insisted that Adobe fix the problem.
If your Die Hard car battery dies because the alternator is shot are going to blame Sears for selling a bad battery? Because this is no different. His system is unstable. I’ve already advised him to reinstall the operating system. He needs to contact the manufacturer and get an XP install CD so he can get up and running.
Bob
What if you’re pulling an "all nighter" trying to get an important project out and something goes to crap on your computer, forcing you to reinstall everything….yet the project is due first thing in the morning….is Adobe Activation available 24/7? Just curious…I seriously don’t know the answer to this.
Is there an instance where activation/reactivation is not accessible at some time of the day/night? If so…then this particular activation scheme is bogus.
And just my 2 cents here….but frustration when computers/software goes whacky is a pretty normal and understandable emotional response. I’m not sure the John Wayne style "take no prisoners" replies are the right way to respond.
Understanding/or even ignoring the person’s frustration and offering some constructive advice might be the better method. 😉
BTW, what’s a fabnatic? <VBG>
Bob
is Adobe Activation available 24/7?
yes. phone and web versions.
I asked that question a while back and was told that it’s supposed to be. A bit scarey if you ask me.
Bob
Understanding/or even ignoring the person’s frustration and offering some constructive advice might be the better method. 😉
My advice was to blow it out and start from scratch. I’ve seen machines that crash like crazy out of the box. A clean install of the O/S and installation of current drivers (no, you don’t always get that with a new machine) has fixed every one.
Bob
BTW, what’s a fabnatic? <VBG>>
Fabulous fanatic!
Is there an instance where activation/reactivation is not accessible at some time of the day/night? If so…then this particular activation scheme is bogus.
It is 24/7, unless a particular server were under a DDOS attack (which we all know never happens in these days and times) … then be prepared to be on hold for a LONG time….
unless a particular server were under a DDOS attack
you’re telephone gets DDOS attacks too?
you’re telephone gets DDOS attacks too?
No, but if a server were under DDOS, then you could expect the Adobe support lines to be filled with calls from people attempting to activate but unable to due to the DDOS… follow the logic?
My web server was under DDOS last month for almost 8 hours. The hosting company did everything they could, but US Sprint, just upstream for them failed to react quickly, causing the untenable delay in dealing with the attack. Needless to say, I could not contact them via their online form, so I called. The usual 2 or 3 minutes hold time becam a frustrating 40 minutes… get the drift?
No, but if a server were under DDOS, then you could expect the Adobe support lines to be filled with calls from people attempting to activate but unable to due to the DDOS… follow the logic?
I don’t know, Carl. I suppose it’s possible, but I don’t think that there a that many people that NEED to activate the software at any given time. But I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one needing to get something done and not be able to activate the software.
Hence, I have no intention of uninstalling PS 7.0.
Bob
you’re telephone gets DDOS attacks too? Yes – every evening at dinner time. Telemarketers.
Michel, I don’t know if this is going to help you or you don’t have the problem anymore. Here goes: I also had the System Restore and reactivation problem.
Within a 2 day period I Activated CS and System Restored for some reason not related to Photoshop CS. It so happened I restored back to a point prior to Activating CS. I was also annoyed that I had to reactivate again not realizing that I had restored back to a point prior to my initial activation.
Basically I screwed up and the good people on this forum set me straight. Just to put my mind at ease I tried System Restored again to a point after I reactivated CS which BTW I wasn’t asked for my serial number, just to see what happens. There were no problems. I didn’t get that message that I would have to activate CS.
From the information I gathered on this forum is that you can system restore or reinstall CS as many times as you want on your machine without any problem. As long as it does’nt ask you for your serial number again your in good shape.
Andrew
Hence, I have no intention of uninstalling PS 7.0.
Good plan, however, does the new licensing scheme allow for one to keep vs7 installed after CS is loaded? I remember reading that Adobe allowing you to keep the old vs changed with the advent of CS, but that could very well have been someone’s BS or misunderstanding.
The big weakness of the activation does seem to be someone using Windows restore and not having net connection. I would expect these problems to occur less the longer CS has been installed, as the restore would be less likely to go back to a date prior to initial activation, which is the cause of reactivation problems.
Oh, and I used to agree with you about CorelDraw being king, but CD11 is such a piece of crap and absolutely refuses to play with ACAD that I have stopped using it except in the cases of needing it to size the paper correctly. Even Corel’s engineers and support have been unable to help me, and I have gone to using Illy soley, except when I require accurate size, in which case I have to open the DXF in Corel, save it as CD10, and then open the CDR file with Illy to edit. For some reason Illy refuses to acknowledge the size of DXFs. But that is another rant.
Carl,
I think the license allows you a period of adjustment. It doesn’t state how long that is. 😉
Bob
get the drift?
yes. but I agree w/bob that the volume of calls wouldn’t (shouldn’t) be such that it would be any greater annoyance than just the fact of reacitvating already is.
I think the license allows you a period of adjustment. It doesn’t state how long that is.
I think so too. But if the "adjustment period" is long enough to be sure that CS & activation has it’s act together, then so be it. I still have 7 loaded, but haven’t used it (except for speed comparisons and grabbing settings etc) since I got CS about 3 weeks ago! <crossing fingers!><knock on wood!!!>
Michel,
Once you have the system configured and working make your own image using Norton Ghost 2003. If you have to reload from this image it will be EXACTLY as it was when you saved it plus it takes less than 30 minutes to get back to square 1. Ghost allows you to create the image on a network if you have one, CD or DVD burner, alternatively if you can burn it to a second hard drive of Fat partition on your existing drive if there is space. Anf NO!! I don’t work for Symantec.
Activation is a pain in the bum but at least they allow you to put it on two machines so possible the second install license could get you out of a hole short term. MS apps only allow one installation per licence. Dont you get 30 ndays to register after installation anyway ? In Adobes defence they have top do something to stop the pirates. PS CS was on eBay last week for about $20 – copy obviously. If everyone who used it paid for it then it would probably cost half the price. BTW, I am an amateur user and not a particularly wealthy man so not speaking from the perspective of having the firm buy it for me.
Cheers … Keith
MS apps only allow one installation per licence.
Incorrect. Like Adobe, MS allows a second installation as long as it’s not to be used at the same time.
From the MS Office License:
1.1 Installation and use. You may:
(a) install and use a copy of the Software on one personal computer or other device; and
(b) install an additional copy of the Software on a second, portable device for the exclusive use of the primary user of the first copy of the Software.
Bob
Incorrect. Like Adobe, MS allows a second installation as long as it’s not to be used at the same time.
He may have been referring to Windows XP, where that isn’t the case. —
rm
Please remove "nospam" from email address to send email.
He may have been referring to Windows XP, where that isn’t the case.
Well that may very well be, but we’re talking about the operating system. Kind of understandable that it would be one copy only.
Bob
Michel,
Follow Andrew’s advice – right after activating Photoshop, quit and set up a restore point.
But yeah, time to do some system maintenance. No fun, but it pays off in the long run. A system that totally locks up (mouse not moving and ctl-alt-delete not functional) just about always indicates a serious hardware issue somewhere – bad RAM, loose expansion card, loose hard drive connection, etc. If the system had to be system restored and the hard drive was having a problem, that’s definitely something to look into, because Photoshop needing to be re-activated would be just the first in a series of ever-worsening problems that will crop up.
One *very* important thing to learn how to do is a Check Disk – get the properties on the drive, go to the Tools page, and hit the Check Now button. Check the Automatically Fix Problems checkbox, and reboot (you’ll be asked). Don’t check the surface scan unless further issues indicate that that could be a problem and you can be away from the machine for more than an hour (how long a surface scan could take).
A Check Disk should be done after EVERY non-standard reboot (BSOD or total freeze). It’s an extra 5 minutes to do, but worth it.
-Scott
wrote in message
Dell provides the full WinXP CD. But you’re right, most others don’t. Just another reason to buy Dell.
And I wasn’t trying to be funny.
Bob
Does Dell install AMD processors anymore? If no, then Steve and his cronies can keep their overpriced, underpowered boxes, thank you very much…LOL!
Actually, the only comps out there worse than Dells are the Gateways. Best bet is to look for gourmet brands that know how to actually build a solid piece (like Alienware) or buy the parts and assemble your own. If you own a Dell, and still like Dell and egad, even recommend Dell, count yourself lucky. You obviously haven’t had any problems and don’t know what a really well built computer is.
This has turned out to be somewhat amazing. I did get some useful advice!
Thank you.
Scott, I meant to thank you on making me see the light on my "System Restore-Activation" issue.
Andrew
Could the problem be avoided by simply going to SYSTEM RESTORE after you activate Photoshop CS, and then SAVING a restore point?
The problem has been that after you install and activate Photoshop CS, something happens that requires you to use SYSTEM RESTORE. At this point, you’re reverting to a point BEFORE the Photoshop installation.
But presuming the system is working immediately after having installed Photoshop, can’t you just save a restore point then, and later use that if something goes wrong?
Or is there some reason why you would HAVE to select a older system restore point?
Mike
A system that totally locks up (mouse not moving and ctl-alt-delete not functional) just about always indicates a serious
hardware issue somewhere – bad RAM
A system that locks up or resets randomly almost always has a problem with the CPU or MB. The most common problem is CPU overheating. Sometimes a bigger fan, or re-installing the existing one with a good helping of thermal grease, will do the trick. Other times a new CPU is called for.
Mike
At least he’s right about that. Do a Google search–he redefines arrogant. wrote in message
Factory installed images suck. The first thing you should do to any new computer is blow it out and reinstall Windows properly.
And if you think my prior response was arrogant, you ain’t seen nothing
yet.
Bob
YOU ain’t seen nothing yet either.
I just love cowards who hide behind keyboards.
Bob
