Adobe stopping my Photoshop CS6 working, both odd and scary

[Jon555]

I just got a pop-up when I ran up Photoshop CS6 Extended saying Adobe was going to nuke it. As I bought it from Amazon (and supplied by Amazon, in a box) I find it very hard to believe it's a fake. Also I've never given my serial number to anyone, why would I, it would risk my very expensive product having something like this happen to it, plus I paid for it as I disapprove of piracy or I could have saved myself a lot of money. (Can people guess serial numbers from others they know about?) I remember at the time people saying it's easy to get a fake one, but as I wanted to use it seriously and be supported I paid for it, making this even more annoying.

I still use Photoshop CS6 Extended as it does what I want, also I was somewhat annoyed the subscription version came out a little later, was only a mild update, and having spent best part of £900 on CS6 didn't even get a discount or some free months.

Lightroom 6.14 still seems okay, I just use that for Negative Lab Pro these days... However it could just be one popup per day?

I only run CS6, LR and the DNG converter (but I haven't used the latter for ages).

Of course from reading the message the issue could be with the LR serial number, but I still don't see how anyone could have got hold of it?

I don't think I've been hacked - the "Learn More" link really took me to Adobe??? I do remember Adobe getting hacked tho... but that was 2013 (unless another happened very recently), although I did register it with them in 2012...

Entertainingly Adobe help takes you here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/x-productkb/global/invalid-revoked-serial-numbers.html
Where:
"If the serial number associated with the software is blocked, find information on this page to quickly resolve the issue."
Takes you to a page where you can subscribe to Adobe software...

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Help would be most appreciated. I don't want to subscribe as the software I have works fine and does what I want, plus I don't see why I should be forced to, as I haven't done anything wrong...

(Edit) I did post something similar to this on the Adobe Community board as well, mostly copied from here, but updated.

 

[CameraCarl]

Have you tried calling them to see if they can explain their message?

 

[Jon555]

Have you tried calling them to see if they can explain their message?

It was late at night so I didn't do that, plus I could find no sign of a support phone number, just sales... I'll look some more...

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Jon555]

Okay... so after a lot of investigating a helpful person on the Adobe Discussion forum showed me the trick to talk to a person... enter their Chat Bot and just type Agent

I took the "phone me in one minute" option. The first person said I needed another department which led to a very long time on hold.

So, after a 52 minute phone call (the music on hold isn't great) I discovered the s/n had been "retired", they asked for box and licence photos plus order details so I've sent them. The Agents were friendly and helpful. Fingers crossed...

They also confirmed my Lightroom serial number is fine...

The main take-away from his for others is IMHO the Agent thing...

 

[dunfly]

Did you register the number with them when you first purchased the software?

 

[foot]

Okay... so after a lot of investigating a helpful person on the Adobe Discussion forum showed me the trick to talk to a person... enter their Chat Bot and just type Agent

I took the "phone me in one minute" option. The first person said I needed another department which led to a very long time on hold.

So, after a 52 minute phone call (the music on hold isn't great) I discovered the s/n had been "retired", they asked for box and licence photos plus order details so I've sent them. The Agents were friendly and helpful. Fingers crossed...

They also confirmed my Lightroom serial number is fine...

The main take-away from his for others is IMHO the Agent thing...

wow a lot of hoops to jump thru!

plus I'd guess that the software wasn't working during all of this...

I think the term of use is "nudging" as in, nudge people the way you want them

to behave

a lot of people no doubt aren't as good as you in keeping original boxes, packing, order forms, receipts

maybe not lost, just temporarily "misplaced" in storage somewhere, back of the closet, in the attic, or those boxes that never get fully unpacked after a move...

hope it all works out for you

 

[Teila Day]

I just got a pop-up when I ran up Photoshop CS6 Extended saying Adobe was going to nuke it. As I bought it from Amazon (and supplied by Amazon, in a box) I find it very hard to believe it's a fake. Also I've never given my serial number to anyone, why would I, it would risk my very expensive product having something like this happen to it, plus I paid for it as I disapprove of piracy or I could have saved myself a lot of money. (Can people guess serial numbers from others they know about?) I remember at the time people saying it's easy to get a fake one, but as I wanted to use it seriously and be supported I paid for it, making this even more annoying.

I still use Photoshop CS6 Extended as it does what I want, also I was somewhat annoyed the subscription version came out a little later, was only a mild update, and having spent best part of £900 on CS6 didn't even get a discount or some free months.

Lightroom 6.14 still seems okay, I just use that for Negative Lab Pro these days... However it could just be one popup per day?

I only run CS6, LR and the DNG converter (but I haven't used the latter for ages).

Of course from reading the message the issue could be with the LR serial number, but I still don't see how anyone could have got hold of it?

I don't think I've been hacked - the "Learn More" link really took me to Adobe??? I do remember Adobe getting hacked tho... but that was 2013 (unless another happened very recently), although I did register it with them in 2012...

Entertainingly Adobe help takes you here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/x-productkb/global/invalid-revoked-serial-numbers.html
Where:
"If the serial number associated with the software is blocked, find information on this page to quickly resolve the issue."
Takes you to a page where you can subscribe to Adobe software...

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Help would be most appreciated. I don't want to subscribe as the software I have works fine and does what I want, plus I don't see why I should be forced to, as I haven't done anything wrong...

(Edit) I did post something similar to this on the Adobe Community board as well, mostly copied from here, but updated.

Scores of people have had their CS6 license terminated. I'm guessing many (most?) had work/company or student versions of the software and when Adobe pulled the license.. whelp... the party is over.

Something that I've pretty much have always done is always keep 1-2 workstations that are forever offline (no built-in modem capability in fact). (a) .. no online trash gets collected on the computer (b) no hacker's peeping eyes on customers private photographs, etc.. (c) software can't report back to base (d) no updating the software without my "ok", etc..

So maybe keep a notebook computer offline for your older tried-and-true software that may be subject to license revocation by the 'manufacturer' so-to-speak?

Just a thought.

--
Teila K. Day

Getting Started

 

[Justme]

It has to be Sold by and Ships from Amazon. I also have CS6 and hope it works forever.

If it says Sold by XX and Fulfilled by Amazon, there is no guarantee of authenticity. Sold by XX means it's a third party seller.

 

[Jon555]

Okay... so after a lot of investigating a helpful person on the Adobe Discussion forum showed me the trick to talk to a person... enter their Chat Bot and just type Agent

I took the "phone me in one minute" option. The first person said I needed another department which led to a very long time on hold.

So, after a 52 minute phone call (the music on hold isn't great) I discovered the s/n had been "retired", they asked for box and licence photos plus order details so I've sent them. The Agents were friendly and helpful. Fingers crossed...

They also confirmed my Lightroom serial number is fine...

The main take-away from his for others is IMHO the Agent thing...

wow a lot of hoops to jump thru!

plus I'd guess that the software wasn't working during all of this...

I think the term of use is "nudging" as in, nudge people the way you want them

to behave

a lot of people no doubt aren't as good as you in keeping original boxes, packing, order forms, receipts

maybe not lost, just temporarily "misplaced" in storage somewhere, back of the closet, in the attic, or those boxes that never get fully unpacked after a move...

hope it all works out for you

Entertainingly Amazon UK only support providing Invoices up to one year short of my purchase date... but I printed the "finer detail on order" page which I think will be fine. There is a way to request extra data on purchases that might just possibly work, so I'll try that just in case.
(Edit) Although that now says it may take up to a Month...

Luckily I purchased the full retail boxed version so the box and licence photos look good (though alas that was just under £900...).

I started looking for the Box downstairs... got very dusty, then went upstairs and found it where I'd have most expected it to be. I keep too many boxes though (especially for lenses), on my obituary it may say "died buried under 100kg of old boxes".. .

I am very polite to people and don't run around being annoyed, it isn't the person I'm speaking to fault's after all... sometimes that works and sometimes people think they can fob you off as you aren't going to be a pain.

I'm still not certain it will work out, but it's looking more promising...

 

[Jon555]

I just got a pop-up when I ran up Photoshop CS6 Extended saying Adobe was going to nuke it. As I bought it from Amazon (and supplied by Amazon, in a box) I find it very hard to believe it's a fake. Also I've never given my serial number to anyone, why would I, it would risk my very expensive product having something like this happen to it, plus I paid for it as I disapprove of piracy or I could have saved myself a lot of money. (Can people guess serial numbers from others they know about?) I remember at the time people saying it's easy to get a fake one, but as I wanted to use it seriously and be supported I paid for it, making this even more annoying.

I still use Photoshop CS6 Extended as it does what I want, also I was somewhat annoyed the subscription version came out a little later, was only a mild update, and having spent best part of £900 on CS6 didn't even get a discount or some free months.

Lightroom 6.14 still seems okay, I just use that for Negative Lab Pro these days... However it could just be one popup per day?

I only run CS6, LR and the DNG converter (but I haven't used the latter for ages).

Of course from reading the message the issue could be with the LR serial number, but I still don't see how anyone could have got hold of it?

I don't think I've been hacked - the "Learn More" link really took me to Adobe??? I do remember Adobe getting hacked tho... but that was 2013 (unless another happened very recently), although I did register it with them in 2012...

Entertainingly Adobe help takes you here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/x-productkb/global/invalid-revoked-serial-numbers.html
Where:
"If the serial number associated with the software is blocked, find information on this page to quickly resolve the issue."
Takes you to a page where you can subscribe to Adobe software...

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Help would be most appreciated. I don't want to subscribe as the software I have works fine and does what I want, plus I don't see why I should be forced to, as I haven't done anything wrong...

(Edit) I did post something similar to this on the Adobe Community board as well, mostly copied from here, but updated.

Scores of people have had their CS6 license terminated. I'm guessing many (most?) had work/company or student versions of the software and when Adobe pulled the license.. whelp... the party is over.

Something that I've pretty much have always done is always keep 1-2 workstations that are forever offline (no built-in modem capability in fact). (a) .. no online trash gets collected on the computer (b) no hacker's peeping eyes on customers private photographs, etc.. (c) software can't report back to base (d) no updating the software without my "ok", etc..

So maybe keep a notebook computer offline for your older tried-and-true software that may be subject to license revocation by the 'manufacturer' so-to-speak?

Just a thought.

I'm not sure how long the Adobe Genuine software can be offline and be happy, I suspect it's okay. The licences for my Topaz software would stop it working after no internet for a while.

BTW I bought the full retail boxed version for just under £900, so I shouldn't have issues with this... but who knows what can still go wrong...

 

[Jon555]

It has to be Sold by and Ships from Amazon. I also have CS6 and hope it works forever.

If it says Sold by XX and Fulfilled by Amazon, there is no guarantee of authenticity. Sold by XX means it's a third party seller.

Sold by Amazon EU and shipped by Amazon UK...

(We were in the EU back then BTW, although I bought something a couple of weeks back that was the same, as Amazon UK were out of stock...)

 

[TomS53]

Okay... so after a lot of investigating a helpful person on the Adobe Discussion forum showed me the trick to talk to a person... enter their Chat Bot and just type Agent

I took the "phone me in one minute" option. The first person said I needed another department which led to a very long time on hold.

So, after a 52 minute phone call (the music on hold isn't great) I discovered the s/n had been "retired", they asked for box and licence photos plus order details so I've sent them. The Agents were friendly and helpful. Fingers crossed...

They also confirmed my Lightroom serial number is fine...

The main take-away from his for others is IMHO the Agent thing...

wow a lot of hoops to jump thru!

plus I'd guess that the software wasn't working during all of this...

I think the term of use is "nudging" as in, nudge people the way you want them

to behave

a lot of people no doubt aren't as good as you in keeping original boxes, packing, order forms, receipts

maybe not lost, just temporarily "misplaced" in storage somewhere, back of the closet, in the attic, or those boxes that never get fully unpacked after a move...

hope it all works out for you

Entertainingly Amazon UK only support providing Invoices up to one year short of my purchase date... but I printed the "finer detail on order" page which I think will be fine. There is a way to request extra data on purchases that might just possibly work, so I'll try that just in case.
(Edit) Although that now says it may take up to a Month...

Luckily I purchased the full retail boxed version so the box and licence photos look good (though alas that was just under £900...).

I started looking for the Box downstairs... got very dusty, then went upstairs and found it where I'd have most expected it to be. I keep too many boxes though (especially for lenses), on my obituary it may say "died buried under 100kg of old boxes".. .

I fully understand this statement and it may very well end up apply to me as well! Stay Safe!

I am very polite to people and don't run around being annoyed, it isn't the person I'm speaking to fault's after all... sometimes that works and sometimes people think they can fob you off as you aren't going to be a pain.

I'm still not certain it will work out, but it's looking more promising...

 

[Jon555]

"Dear John,
We would like to inform you that the serial number has been restored."

"Your case is now closed."

However when I start Photoshop...

(Edit) It has been suggested I delete the directory:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\AdobeGCClient

(Which I note includes a bunch of .exe and .dll files dated last month, plus 2023, 2022, etc.)

So I've renamed it and hopefully that will work. Alas as I only get the warning dialogs occasionally it will be impossible to tell for certain for a few days...

 

[Vlad K]

I was forced to switch from CS6 PP (or was it CS4?) to CC subscription after my PC died, because CS6 installer refused to start on newer versions of Windows.

--
Vlad

 

[Jon555]

I was forced to switch from CS6 PP (or was it CS4?) to CC subscription after my PC died, because CS6 installer refused to start on newer versions of Windows.

Curious... Adobe phoned me yesterday and I asked about PS CS6 support on Win11 and they said it was fine... Maybe they just mean it runs okay if you upgrade, I don't know.

 

[Jon555]

While in the Supermarket yesterday I got a call from a U.S. number. It was Abobe (unexpectedly) checking up about my query on the GCClient removal. Basically they said it may magically appear again in the future, if it does I should delete it again, it may arrive with Photoshop crashes and other odd events.

 

[Vlad K]

Adobe would continue to work if you upgrade Windows version with Adobe already installed.

But when my computer died, I built a new PC, installed the new version of Windows there (old versions were impossible to buy), and after that - tried to install CS. CS installer refused to start because it could not recognize Windows version.
I had a similar issue with older Canon soft that time as well, but managed to fix it by manually unpacking Canon installer and tweaking its config.

It is technically possible but very unlikely that Adobe would modify the installer of the old CS version to include support for a newly released Windows version. The easiest excuse - they did not test old CS with new Windows, and cannot guarantee it is fully compatible, therefore you need to upgrade to the latest fully tested CS.

And I do not remember was it CS4 or CS6, and what version of Windows that was. I can only say that I switched from CS to CC in 2014.

 

[Teila Day]

I just got a pop-up when I ran up Photoshop CS6 Extended saying Adobe was going to nuke it. As I bought it from Amazon (and supplied by Amazon, in a box) I find it very hard to believe it's a fake. Also I've never given my serial number to anyone, why would I, it would risk my very expensive product having something like this happen to it, plus I paid for it as I disapprove of piracy or I could have saved myself a lot of money. (Can people guess serial numbers from others they know about?) I remember at the time people saying it's easy to get a fake one, but as I wanted to use it seriously and be supported I paid for it, making this even more annoying.

I still use Photoshop CS6 Extended as it does what I want, also I was somewhat annoyed the subscription version came out a little later, was only a mild update, and having spent best part of £900 on CS6 didn't even get a discount or some free months.

Lightroom 6.14 still seems okay, I just use that for Negative Lab Pro these days... However it could just be one popup per day?

I only run CS6, LR and the DNG converter (but I haven't used the latter for ages).

Of course from reading the message the issue could be with the LR serial number, but I still don't see how anyone could have got hold of it?

I don't think I've been hacked - the "Learn More" link really took me to Adobe??? I do remember Adobe getting hacked tho... but that was 2013 (unless another happened very recently), although I did register it with them in 2012...

Entertainingly Adobe help takes you here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/x-productkb/global/invalid-revoked-serial-numbers.html
Where:
"If the serial number associated with the software is blocked, find information on this page to quickly resolve the issue."
Takes you to a page where you can subscribe to Adobe software...

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Help would be most appreciated. I don't want to subscribe as the software I have works fine and does what I want, plus I don't see why I should be forced to, as I haven't done anything wrong...

(Edit) I did post something similar to this on the Adobe Community board as well, mostly copied from here, but updated.

Scores of people have had their CS6 license terminated. I'm guessing many (most?) had work/company or student versions of the software and when Adobe pulled the license.. whelp... the party is over.

Something that I've pretty much have always done is always keep 1-2 workstations that are forever offline (no built-in modem capability in fact). (a) .. no online trash gets collected on the computer (b) no hacker's peeping eyes on customers private photographs, etc.. (c) software can't report back to base (d) no updating the software without my "ok", etc..

So maybe keep a notebook computer offline for your older tried-and-true software that may be subject to license revocation by the 'manufacturer' so-to-speak?

Just a thought.

I'm not sure how long the Adobe Genuine software can be offline and be happy, I suspect it's okay. The licences for my Topaz software would stop it working after no internet for a while.

BTW I bought the full retail boxed version for just under £900, so I shouldn't have issues with this... but who knows what can still go wrong...

Over 10 years in my experience. I think it depends on what kind of license / how much was paid for the product at the start.

--
Teila K. Day

Getting Started

 

[Jon555]

I just got a pop-up when I ran up Photoshop CS6 Extended saying Adobe was going to nuke it. As I bought it from Amazon (and supplied by Amazon, in a box) I find it very hard to believe it's a fake. Also I've never given my serial number to anyone, why would I, it would risk my very expensive product having something like this happen to it, plus I paid for it as I disapprove of piracy or I could have saved myself a lot of money. (Can people guess serial numbers from others they know about?) I remember at the time people saying it's easy to get a fake one, but as I wanted to use it seriously and be supported I paid for it, making this even more annoying.

I still use Photoshop CS6 Extended as it does what I want, also I was somewhat annoyed the subscription version came out a little later, was only a mild update, and having spent best part of £900 on CS6 didn't even get a discount or some free months.

Lightroom 6.14 still seems okay, I just use that for Negative Lab Pro these days... However it could just be one popup per day?

I only run CS6, LR and the DNG converter (but I haven't used the latter for ages).

Of course from reading the message the issue could be with the LR serial number, but I still don't see how anyone could have got hold of it?

I don't think I've been hacked - the "Learn More" link really took me to Adobe??? I do remember Adobe getting hacked tho... but that was 2013 (unless another happened very recently), although I did register it with them in 2012...

Entertainingly Adobe help takes you here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/x-productkb/global/invalid-revoked-serial-numbers.html
Where:
"If the serial number associated with the software is blocked, find information on this page to quickly resolve the issue."
Takes you to a page where you can subscribe to Adobe software...

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Help would be most appreciated. I don't want to subscribe as the software I have works fine and does what I want, plus I don't see why I should be forced to, as I haven't done anything wrong...

(Edit) I did post something similar to this on the Adobe Community board as well, mostly copied from here, but updated.

Scores of people have had their CS6 license terminated. I'm guessing many (most?) had work/company or student versions of the software and when Adobe pulled the license.. whelp... the party is over.

Something that I've pretty much have always done is always keep 1-2 workstations that are forever offline (no built-in modem capability in fact). (a) .. no online trash gets collected on the computer (b) no hacker's peeping eyes on customers private photographs, etc.. (c) software can't report back to base (d) no updating the software without my "ok", etc..

So maybe keep a notebook computer offline for your older tried-and-true software that may be subject to license revocation by the 'manufacturer' so-to-speak?

Just a thought.

I'm not sure how long the Adobe Genuine software can be offline and be happy, I suspect it's okay. The licences for my Topaz software would stop it working after no internet for a while.

BTW I bought the full retail boxed version for just under £900, so I shouldn't have issues with this... but who knows what can still go wrong...

Over 10 years in my experience. I think it depends on what kind of license / how much was paid for the product at the start.

As I said in the line above your comment, I had the Boxed Retail Product and paid a lot of money for it. (Still, having the Box, and smaller CD box showing the serial number, I think helped quite a bit in getting it restored. I keep too many boxes, e.g. for lenses, but a win for clutter this time...)

I think something happened recently as a number of people are complaining about this on the Adobe forums too, which wasn't the case when I looked at the beginning of my problem. Maybe they retired a new more serial numbers than they meant to...???

 

[wklee]

I haven't looked. It's been a long time since I've used PS. Adobe provided a Free PS CS version since they shut down the servers. Also a new Serial no. for those versions. The old serial nos. became invalid. It's meant for those who have problems with Activation of their serial nos.


You may download Creative Suite Software here. Adobe has stopped allowing direct downloads for some time now.

https://prodesigntools.com/adobe-cs6-direct-download-links.html

--
https://dprforum.com/community/?referrer=1307
Never buy version 1.0 of anything.
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi