Photoshop CS2 - no activation with "Activate" and "Transfer Activation" disabled. - Graphics

I have identical behaviour with a new, sealed copy of CS2. I have
tried it on my main graphic box and also laptop. On both (XPP-SP2)
registration is fine but activation remains greyed out.

I did find that Adobe LM (license manager) service had not been
started and was set to 'manual' in Control Panel|Administrative Tools|
Compnent services|Local services. But setting it to 'auto' and
restarting has changed nothing.

If you found any solution please let me know. I've searched around
Adobe and found no reference to this behaviour, just helpful
suggestions for activation problems like 'format your hard disk,
install Windows and only Adobe Software'. I have no doubt that the
software will disable itself after 30 days, and I'm not even slightly
amused.

Me too. I bought mine through an Amazon dealer and the activate
button does nothing. I called the activation phone line at Adobe and
was told the serial number is invalid. He directed me to general
customer service, who said the same thing. So it looks like now I get
to fight to get my money back. Or possibly get a valid serial number.
I am hoping Amazon's buyer's garuntee will cover it.


On Aug 30, 1:06 am, stewart <nom...@nomail.net> wrote:
> I found Photoshop CS2 (Win XP) in the discount bin at a local military
> PX/store yesterday ($290 sealed in box with CD's, serial, & users
> guide), decided to give it a try in spite of it being an older version
> (cheaper then CS3 in the same store), and installed it from the CD
> this morning. No problems with the installation, serial number, online
> registration, or updates afterwards. The software seems to be working
> perfectly.
>
> However, contrary to what the user guide says, it did not ask for
> activation when I started the software. Further, "Activate" under the
> "Help" menu does absolutely nothing (no response whatsoever) and
> "Transfer Activation" under the same menu is disabled (grayed out).
> I've opened and closed the program at least two dozen times this
> morning, still with no request for activation.
>
> Is this normal or did something go wrong during the installation?
>
> stewart

On Sep 15, 2:59 pm, "redwoodt...@gmail.com" <redwoodt...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Me too. I bought mine through an Amazon dealer and theactivate
> button does nothing. I called the activation phone line at Adobe and
> was told the serial number is invalid. He directed me to general
> customer service, who said the same thing. So it looks like now I get
> to fight to get my money back. Or possibly get a valid serial number.
> I am hoping Amazon's buyer's garuntee will cover it.
>
> On Aug 30, 1:06 am, stewart <nom...@nomail.net> wrote:
>
> > I found Photoshop CS2 (Win XP) in the discount bin at a local military
> > PX/store yesterday ($290 sealed in box with CD's, serial, & users
> > guide), decided to give it a try in spite of it being an older version
> > (cheaper then CS3 in the same store), and installed it from the CD
> > this morning. No problems with the installation, serial number, online
> > registration, or updates afterwards. The software seems to be working
> > perfectly.
>
> > However, contrary to what the user guide says, it did not ask for
> > activation when I started the software. Further, "Activate" under the
> > "Help" menu does absolutely nothing (no response whatsoever) and
> > "Transfer Activation" under the same menu is disabled (grayed out).
> > I've opened and closed the program at least two dozen times this
> > morning, still with no request for activation.
>
> > Is this normal or did something go wrong during the installation?
>
> > stewart

The vendor wrote back to me and offered to exchange my cs2 for cs3,
but he's not saying anything about activation...

redwoodtwig@gmail.com wrote:

> On Sep 15, 2:59 pm, "redwoodt...@gmail.com" <redwoodt...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>Me too. I bought mine through an Amazon dealer and theactivate
>>button does nothing. I called the activation phone line at Adobe and
>>was told the serial number is invalid. He directed me to general
>>customer service, who said the same thing. So it looks like now I get
>>to fight to get my money back. Or possibly get a valid serial number.
>>I am hoping Amazon's buyer's garuntee will cover it.
>>
>>On Aug 30, 1:06 am, stewart <nom...@nomail.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I found Photoshop CS2 (Win XP) in the discount bin at a local military
>>>PX/store yesterday ($290 sealed in box with CD's, serial, & users
>>>guide), decided to give it a try in spite of it being an older version
>>>(cheaper then CS3 in the same store), and installed it from the CD
>>>this morning. No problems with the installation, serial number, online
>>>registration, or updates afterwards. The software seems to be working
>>>perfectly.
>>
>>>However, contrary to what the user guide says, it did not ask for
>>>activation when I started the software. Further, "Activate" under the
>>>"Help" menu does absolutely nothing (no response whatsoever) and
>>>"Transfer Activation" under the same menu is disabled (grayed out).
>>>I've opened and closed the program at least two dozen times this
>>>morning, still with no request for activation.
>>
>>>Is this normal or did something go wrong during the installation?
>>
>>>stewart
>
>
> The vendor wrote back to me and offered to exchange my cs2 for cs3,
> but he's not saying anything about activation...
>

If there is no money exchanged then it will be a bargain -