Only CS2 has the transfer activation feature.
Bob
Okay. Hmm, what was it that I did with my CS then? It was on this computer, I loaded it on another and I was given the option to deactivate one and activate/use the other. Which I did and then did again after a while so that I could work on this computer again..
Then you don’t have CS….you have CS2.
Bob
you can keep both activated at the same time. this is spelled out in the license.
dave
You can have two activated, you just can’t LEGALLY use both at the same time.
Bob
right. that’s what i meant. 🙂
Nope. CS. I purchased before the release of CS2
Hi Dave!
Any hints on how to go about the process? I don’t mind jumping between computers. I would simply like to deactivate the photoshop on my PC and activate it on my Laptop. I just can’t find instructions to do so >_>;;
Hi Josie,
If you saw some kind of deactivation dialog with CS, then that is totally strange, because there is no such mechanism for PS CS just as Bob said. I wonder if perhaps you’re thinking of "reactivation", which definitely was the word used in the related dialog for CS, yet which only arose in the event that your activation hashes became seen as corrupt on the PC where you’d installed PS CS. If you successfully jumped back and forth between two PCs and were always able to reactivate, then that is surprising yet not unbelievable, given that CS had a faulty license management design. However, it was usually faulty in a way that would not benefit the user, rather than vice-versa as seems to have been your case.
Regardless, PS CS could be installed and activated on 2 PCs with no problem. If the laptop you have represents a 3rd PC, then there is no mechanism provided – short of contacting Adobe – for transferring an activation from one PC to the other. The only other way you might be able to achieve that would be if a rather significant span of time elapsed between when you moved the installation between the PCs, in which case you again may have lucked out and found Adobe’s activation server was permitting the activation based upon certain age criteria.
Photoshop CS2 is the first version released where, by design, the user was given the means to transfer an activation.
Regards,
Daryl
It was one of those times when I had a HUGE computer crash with a massive project and a deadline coming. So I installed my program on another computer and was asked to ‘Turn off’ the other in order to use the newly installed Photoshop. During this time I could us the photoshop on the other computer without trouble or notice of a pending count-down in trial days. I believe I remember the mentioning of a Key or needing something of the sort. I am assuming this is what you’re talking about.
I understand what everyone is trying to say but I’m not sure anyone is getting what I’m asking. I would just like help getting the photoshop on my laptop to run. I don’t mind that my PC will be put on hold. The process of getting it to work between computers is where I am stuck.
Josie,
Re-reading your original message, where you say "I have deactivated/activated before on 2 different computers", that just doesn’t make any sense for Photoshop CS since it does not have a process available for deactivation or activation transfer. The comment in your prior post of "asked to ‘Turn off’ the other"….who asked? Was this a dialog presented on the computer to which you had installed PS CS, or was this a request from a person?
If from a person, then that sounds like someone trying to follow the letter of the license, simply telling you to shut down the other PC so that you cannot be running Photoshop concurrently on two PCs. But, if that was a dialog on your PC, then that makes it seem as if Photoshop is network-aware of another PC being on the same network that has Photoshop installed AND running. I have NEVER experienced that, but I do recall someone else once posting a comment suggesting similar behavior. If it happens, it must be rather uncommon.
The bottom line is that if the laptop is the 3rd PC to which you will be attempting to install Photoshop, and if this is truly Photoshop CS you are working with, then you will not be able to install and activate it for use. An exception to this is that
if the activation history at Adobe has expired on it. But, I don’t know what the time frame is for that to happen. I only know that Adobe reportedly will allow more than 2 activations if such time has elapsed that another activation is assumed to be for reinstallation on a system that has been upgraded or replaced.
Another thought comes to mind also. If the laptop has never has this version of PS installed to it, then you should be able to install and run PS under the initial 30-day grace period.
But, normal operation says you are allowed two activations. To re-use an activation of PS CS, you will have to contact Adobe and convince them that you have removed CS from 1 of the 2 systems where you had it previously installed, and ask them to reset your activation count.
Regards,
Daryl
