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Don't ever you lose your Photoshop serial number....


hjoseph7

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I have an old windows 7 computer that kept crashing on me several times throughout the day for no obvious reason. This computer is a Hewlett Packard(HP) "Elite", which was state-of-the art when it came out back in 2009. After sending this computer back to the manufacturer several times and spending hours on the phone with HP customer service due to the crashing problem, I thought they/we finally had it fixed.

 

 

The computer worked fine for several years after that crashing only once or twice a day, but lately it started crashing again. Sometimes 10 or more times per day ! Finally I decided to replace it with a Windows 7 Dell computer I got off Amazon. The reason why I stuck with Windows 7, is that some of my hardware, printer, scanner etc will only work on Windows 7.

 

 

Anyway, I was tying to transfer Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom to my new computer, when I realized I did not have the original serial number ! I called the folks at Adobe and even though I showed them a receipt with a transaction number and account number they said they could not find the serial number, because it was not registered with them. They said the serial number is usually on the sleeve of the disk it came with. Of course if I had the original sleeve I wouldn't be calling them ?

 

 

I tried several things such as downloading a set of keys I found on the web, but none of them worked. Then I tried going to the "application" file to see if the key was embedded in the start-up XML file: C: Program file/ Adobe/ Adobe Photoshop CS5.1/ AMT/ application <Datakey="TrialSerialNumber">926287053123815334279360</Data>

Unfortunately, Only the trial-key was embedded on the XML file, no sign of the real key ? I then connected my old computer which has Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom on it, to my Monitor and started up Photoshop. I went to the Help menu and clicked on SYSTEM. I got a list of parameters including the Serial Number. Yeah, I thought I had Adobe beat !

 

 

However , when I plugged in the serial number I was 4 figures short ! The first 4 digits were missing from that serial number. RATS ! Adobe went out of their way so people could not steal their software, but at the same time they made it hard for people switching computers down the line !

 

 

This is when I realized since I could connect my old computer to my NEC Monitor screen, maybe I wouldn't have to send it to the Dumpster where it belonged. My monitor has 2 ports one for DVI and another for VGA . My old computer has to be connected via VGA, because it has a video card, but my new computer which does not have a video card can work form the DVI port.

 

 

Problem Solved ! I will use my old computer strictly for editing photo's since it only crashes when connected to the internet. And use my new computer for internet related stuff. It's a little inconvenient, having to switch from one computer to the other, but at least I can keep the thousands of photos I have saved on the old computer without having to transfer them over to the new computer, hogging up space. Unless anybody has better ideas ?

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When CS2 was new I went and bought it and put it on an XP machine that I still use on occasion. It wouldn’t work on Windows 7 so I went to the Adobe website to see what could be done. I got a patch of some kind and it all started working just fine. Then I got a notice from Adobe that I was no longer authorized to use CS2 and would be required to remove it from my computer or bad things would happen. I’m sure my response was a bit colorful but I chose not to comply and it still operates as well as ever.I don’t use it often but if I am traveling it can be convenient. I bought the software before the subscription scheme came along and it was rather pricey I thought. I don’t recall any time limits being mentioned. Maybe not the most up to date any longer but it’s there when I want it.

 

Rick H.

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IIRC, the key, or license is stored in a file called 'amptlib', or something similar in the Photoshop installation directory. Copy that file to your new installation and you'll be registered once again.

Note: Copy, not move. Otherwise you run the risk of neither installation working.

 

BTW the OP sounds like a great advert for HP computers! :rolleyes:

Only crashing once or twice a day?

I'm still running Win7 on two desktop workstations, and I can't remember how long it's been since one of them last 'crashed'. Even then it was probably my own fault for trying to update a driver or install some new hardware. Although I just yesterday added a new SSD with no issue, apart from finding somewhere in the case to affix it.

 

And now I've probably tempted fate and angered the malevolent spirit of Bill Gates.

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IIRC, the key, or license is stored in a file called 'amptlib', or something similar in the Photoshop installation directory. Copy that file to your new installation and you'll be registered once again.

Note: Copy, not move. Otherwise you run the risk of neither installation working.

 

BTW the OP sounds like a great advert for HP computers! :rolleyes:

Only crashing once or twice a day?

I'm still running Win7 on two desktop workstations, and I can't remember how long it's been since one of them last 'crashed'. Even then it was probably my own fault for trying to update a driver or install some new hardware. Although I just yesterday added a new SSD with no issue, apart from finding somewhere in the case to affix it.

 

And now I've probably tempted fate and angered the malevolent spirit of Bill Gates.

OK thanks, I'll try it ! I'll keep you posted...

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IIRC, the key, or license is stored in a file called 'amptlib', or something similar in the Photoshop installation directory. Copy that file to your new installation and you'll be registered once again.

Note: Copy, not move. Otherwise you run the risk of neither installation working.

 

BTW the OP sounds like a great advert for HP computers! :rolleyes:

Only crashing once or twice a day?

I'm still running Win7 on two desktop workstations, and I can't remember how long it's been since one of them last 'crashed'. Even then it was probably my own fault for trying to update a driver or install some new hardware. Although I just yesterday added a new SSD with no issue, apart from finding somewhere in the case to affix it.

 

And now I've probably tempted fate and angered the malevolent spirit of Bill Gates.

 

I could not find that file no matter how hard I tried. I did find a free-key on the internet and it worked ! Serial Number Download

Who knows my computer might blow up in the next couple of days ?

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I could not find that file no matter how hard I tried.

Made a slight mistake with the PS CSx license file name. It's called "Amtlib.dll". It must be there somewhere, because Photoshop won't start without it.

 

The default path is:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CSx (64 Bit)\Amtlib.dll

Where 'x' is the version of PS CS that you have installed.

 

I suggest backing up this vital file as a safeguard against future disasters. Also a backup of the Registry now that PS is working wouldn't go amiss.

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I'm nursing an old pre-subscription version of Photoshop and am careful to keep the serial number for occasional reinstalls. It wouldn't install on my Windows 8.1 system but I found a workaround by copying all of its DLL files from the windows/system directory (where they don't belong anyway) into the Photoshop directory. Now I've even got it running on Linux under WINE. It's an old version but it does what I need. I also have GIMP, but I find its user interface too cryptic. Its designers seem to have made it difficult to use for anyone who's familiar with industry-standard Photoshop.
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I found a workaround by copying all of its DLL files from the windows/system directory (where they don't belong anyway)

Indeed! The use of 'communal' DLLs has caused endless headaches in the past, with identically named files actually being totally different and causing system crashes or weird behaviour.

I also have GIMP, but I find its user interface too cryptic

Not sure why that should be, unless it's an older version that splits into 3 floating windows by default.

 

I find the latest version of GIMP enough like PS to swap between the two with no issues. Except for GIMP's decidedly broken Hue/Sat module. Which I've tried to bug report in the past to no avail. It still alters the brightness of saturated Red and neutral greys in an interlocked fashion.

Edited by rodeo_joe|1
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Made a slight mistake with the PS CSx license file name. It's called "Amtlib.dll". It must be there somewhere, because Photoshop won't start without it.

 

The default path is:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CSx (64 Bit)\Amtlib.dll

Where 'x' is the version of PS CS that you have installed.

 

I suggest backing up this vital file as a safeguard against future disasters. Also a backup of the Registry now that PS is working wouldn't go amiss.

It might be there, I just was not expecting it to be a .DLL file. Not sure how open those ?

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(snip)

 

Problem Solved ! I will use my old computer strictly for editing photo's since it only crashes when connected to the internet. And use my new computer for internet related stuff. It's a little inconvenient, having to switch from one computer to the other, but at least I can keep the thousands of photos I have saved on the old computer without having to transfer them over to the new computer, hogging up space. Unless anybody has better ideas ?

 

I have most of my files, including pictures, on a network connected disk.

I can then access them from any computer in the house, depending on what I

want to do with them. (And copied to another NFS disks often enough.)

 

You should probably copy your files to the new computer, or to some other storage media,

once in a while for backup reasons.

 

It is possible, though not easy to describe here, to connect a computer to a house network

but not to the rest of the world.

-- glen

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