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How Many Systems Can You Use Adobe Products (CC, CS6) On?

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How Many Computers Can You Install or Run Adobe Software On?

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770 thoughts on “How Many Systems Can You Use Adobe Products (CC, CS6) On?”

  1. Hi,

    I run a small (4-person) marketing team. We are caught between a couple different version of CS and could really use your help. Here’s the situation:

    Two people have CS4, one person has CS5 and we need to purchase another copy for the fourth person. We are not sophisticated users and could get by with CS4 for some time.

    Given this, what is the most cost-effective way to get everyone on the same version so that we can easily share files? Can we convert the individual CS5 license to a volume license and give everyone CS5? Can we purchase downgrade rights for the single copy of CS5 and put everyone on CS4? Help!

    Thanks very much!

    Reply
    • Hi Brad, thanks for your question and glad to help. Since Adobe hasn’t officially sold CS4 for almost a year now, safe and legitimate copies are hard to find…  However as you guessed, you could indeed purchase a single copy of CS5 and downgrade it to receive CS4 instead, if you wanted to.

      But on the other hand, it makes good sense to invest your money in a newer and better version – plus your future upgrades will be that much cheaper…  We would recommend moving to a volume license, for all the reasons outlined in our article here:
      (cheaper, easier, credit for previous purchases, etc)

      How to Best Run Multiple User or Computer Licenses for Adobe CS5.5

      Good luck and please let us know if you have any further questions – thanks!

  2. Hello, we run a magazine and have cs5. We are only able to run it on two computers at once at the moment. We need it to run on 3 or 4 computers at one time rather than just two. Can you lead me in the direction on how to get this done? I have looked at the Volume Licensing thing but I can’t make heads or tails about what I am doing there. I guess I need a good explanation.

    Reply
    • Welcome Ikey, thanks for your comment – and don’t worry, you’re not the only one… it can be hard to figure out!

      We put together a new article that tries to break it all out in simple and easy understandible terms – please see the link in the response (to Brad) just above your comment…

      After reading that, if you have further questions please do ask again on that page – thank you!

  3. Great support here. :) Can I add my questions?

    Just bought Design Premium Full Version from someone I trust, although still being very very careful as I am aware of the tons of fakes and counterfeits out there. Yes, I would have preferred an Adobe reseller, but the difference even with VAT was 400 euros… and the European version is already so much more expensive than the US ones.

    When it arrives, can I call Adobe Germany to verify that the serial is unused and in order and has never been activated?

    I am using 2 different laptops, depending on where I am… my main one is just too heavy for travel. Non-concurrent use should be okay, and if worse comes to worst and I forget to switch off my laptop at home, finishing my project on the road should still be okay as long as I am not connected to the Internet, right?

    I had another software once blacklist me for using more than one IP – in my case, it is usually 2 different ones. Either through a VPN when on the road (which means a Heidelberg IP) and a Hamburg one when at home. Oh, and the Hamburg one will change once next week, when I switch internet providers – but after that, it will be VPN/ Heidelberg and Home/ Hamburg.

    If there is any risk of running afoul of Adobe, I just need to avoid using the VPN… IPs that are 600km apart does not usually mean that I am traveling that far. :)

    Thanks in advance,
    Gila

    Reply
  4. P.S. I can’t wait for CS5. :) I used to work with CS3 on my last job, but have always been a Macromedia user myself… so while I will miss Freehand, I am curious to see what has changed in my baby, Fireworks.

    Reply
    • Hello Gila, appreciate your question and comments. You definitely need to be careful with following the rules, although your situation sounds a bit complicated so your best bet is probably to contact Adobe directly and get their definitive response. We are not technically Adobe so we can only do our best to interpret and understand their restrictions based on years of experience… But the ultimate answer would have to come from them.

      As for the first part about the serial number, they should be able to answer that too – although be forewarned that usually the bigger risk with Adobe software coming from unverified sources is that it contains hidden malware and backdoors, which you may not find out about until after it’s installed (or at all)…

      We hear you on the frustration about the products costing more in Europe and other countries. There have been long discussions about this in the past in other venues, and the explanation we’ve heard from the company is because they have local offices worldwide, they pay local expenses (salaries, taxes/VAT, energy, etc) in those currencies worldwide – plus they have to create, issue, and manage the product in many more languages – and so they price their products regionally to reflect those investment costs. They also have to maintain a separate online store and partner network for each different geography with its own currency and/or language, with additional costs of doing business in foreign locales (distribution, legal, regulatory, customs/tariffs, patents, etc). Bottom line, there’s often more there than first meets the eye.

      Here’s what they say about it:

      “The cost of doing business in UK and Europe is significantly higher per unit of revenue earned than it is in North America, For example, in a large homogenous market like North America, we can achieve certain economies of scale that affect pricing. In the European Union, by contrast, we must support two major currencies, diverse regional market situations and 15 languages, all of which results in higher costs.

      Adobe has approximately 1.5 times as many field employees in Europe as in North America but revenues per employee are smaller, resulting in costs per unit of revenue that are about twice as high in Europe as in North America”

      Thanks and hope this helps, and that all goes well with CS5!

  5. Hi there, just wondering, my Mac seems to be running really slow, I have been thinking bout restoring it to factory, but am concerned that i wont be able to use CS5 student on it when i reinstall it.
    is there any way i can get around the hassles with adobe?
    Also if i cant find my serial for the adobe program how would i go about getting it/one?

    Thanks Heaps

    Reply
  6. Thanks for the answer, btw. :) Remember me ordering from eBay? Trip to the police station today – for 1400 euros, I received an illegal student edition. Cool, he? Luckily, Adobe was super about verifying the license; now I just need to get my money back from the escrow service, hope that Adobe Piracy gets back to me… And I’ll work with the trial version until I can buy another (proper) license.

    Reply
    • Hello again Gila, and thank you for circling back to follow up! Really appreciate that – but sorry to hear about your tale of woe with the bad copy of CS5…

      As we wrote, all too often that happens – you really can’t trust software you get from anywhere else but Adobe, in our experience. There are just way too many scams and hackers out there who either want to rip you off, rip Adobe off, put malware onto your system, or all three.

      Good luck with it, and hope you can get at least some of your money back!

  7. No worries, I am hopefully getting the whole amount back; there’s a reason I used an escrow service for payment. :) It’s just a hassle… Luckily, working with the trial version for now is unproblematic.

    Reply
  8. So I was going to download the Production Suite, DIGITALLY, and order the backup disk. If I own 2 laptops, and I want only Illustrator on 1 and the rest on another, is that possible w/o using up the backup disk? Im using Windows 7. I would purchase the production suite..

    Reply
    • Greetings Jessi – you can definitely do that, with either the digital download or the physical DVD. You are able to install however many components of your suite that you like, on each of your two allowed activations…

      Be aware however that you still cannot run the two at the same time – because each installation of even a single component counts as one license activation for the entire suite on a given computer. So you couldn’t distribute the individual applications of a CS5 suite across several machines.

      Hope this answers your question!

  9. I have a question regarding CS5. I would like to install it on my new laptop (it’s already on my main computer). My question relates to the setup … (which I have not attempted on the laptop yet)

    I started on my main computer with an older version of Photoshop years ago…and have done a series of upgrades, the most recent last spring to CS5 – which went without a hitch. Will the setup disks I purchased from you for the update work for a fresh install on my laptop? I really don’t want to jump through what seem like endless hours of having to install earlier versions of PS to get CS5 my upgrade installed on my new laptop. Any comments or suggestions?

    Reply
    • Yes Mike, good question and you can definitely do that – you don’t have to put all the older versions on your laptop to get the upgrade disks to install.

      They should install fresh on a new computer provided that you have the serial number available of the previous edition that you upgraded from…

      See this page for more detailed information on this topic, and you should be good.

      PS – If you don’t have your earlier serial number handy, no problem either – we’ve got a helpful solution for that.

  10. Hi, would like to know about the licensing issues about CS5; If I install the CS5 on both my home and office computers, then let’s say I upgrade to a newer computer down the road, will I still be able to install the same CS5 license or do I have to buy a new license for the new computer?

    I hope my question was clear enough =)

    Reply
  11. @ProDesignTools

    Using the CS5 upgrade disk install worked great for a fresh install on my new laptop. I had previously installed CS2, CS3, CS4 on my main computer… … it went without a problem on the new laptop.

    If folks haven’t heard of the Belarc Advisor … it can be a life saver when your original disks are filed away somewhere and you can’t find them and you need those serial numbers.

    Thanks again for your prompt response and accurate instructions that worked on the first try. Both are rare these days.

    Reply
    • Hello again Mike, thank you so much for circling back to follow up on how it all went! That’s great it worked out perfectly for you, and it’s our pleasure to help. Please come back and visit anytime with your comments and questions in the future.

  12. My daughter is home for vacation and she has a student edition. Can she install the CS5 on my desktop computer so she can do her homework while she is home? She has it installed on her laptop, but she did not bring it home with her.

    Reply
  13. Can I upgrade one computer from CS4 to CS5 and keep another with the same CS4 serial? My laptop won’t be able to handle the upgrade but my other computer can.

    Reply
  14. @ Monique
    Monique,

    If things are running slow on Mac use Onyx and run “automation – all boxes checked” and this will clear up your system files which take up a lot of memory and disk space. You will notice much quicker shut down and startup times. Look at the activity monitor>system monitor and note “memory USED”. Note the difference – no need should be required other than this freeware program.

    Harris

    **************************************************************

    Reply
  15. We are a medium-sized lab in an academic institution. Out of 20 users (students and postdocs) in our lab, only 10 might potentially use CS5.5 Design Premium at any given time (simultaneously). However, the way we use all the other software in our lab is via Remote Desktop. That is, we have 3 Windows Server 2008 workstations, and everyone connects to them through RD to use any software.

    I wonder how many licenses we would need to purchase (3, i.e. based on the number of computers; or 10, based on the number of potential concurrent users). I guess it depends on how those licenses are going to be checked out from the license server (i.e. per computer or per user). Could you please suggest a link to the resource where such a situation is documented?

    Also, how should I proceed when we decide to place the order (using both academic and volume licensing discounts)? What licensing program to use (TLP or CLP) in our specific situation to get a higher discount?

    Thank you very much for any help!

    Reply
  16. Hi,
    My daughter has Illustrator and Photoshop on her imac. Recently her 350 gb hard drive failed and she had to have a new hard drive installed on her imac. The failed old drive was given back and by use of a dock we have managed to salvage all her applications and documents on to an external hard drive.

    She has now pulled across her illustrator and photoshop from the external hard drive onto her imac (with the new 500 gb drive) however it says she has to uninstall the program off her old computer before she can use it on this one.

    Her problem is that she cannot uninstall it from the old drive as it is corrupt and not functioning properly, and is no longer in a computer.

    What can she do?
    Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply
  17. Thank you so much for your very prompt response.
    She has now removed the applications from her new drive and reinstalled the disc and all appears to be working well.
    Thanks again

    Reply
    • Hey, that’s great to hear Nina – thanks for the update and glad it worked out!

      Be sure to stop back anytime if you have future Adobe questions or anything we can help with.

  18. I just bought the Photoshop Professional CS5, and am a little confused on number of computers it can be used on.. I need clarification that you can install on two computers but cant use at the same time…??? Well if I install on my desktop, and put on my laptop and my husbands systems, what happens if we both are working on projects at same time… what’s the deal??? We are working on a project with some old family pictures and am hopeful this software will help us do what we need to do.

    If I can only put on two, then I will put on one PC and the laptop, so that I can carry that to work on when I go out of town. I just don’t understand the “you cant work on both computers at the same time” bit…
    I took an online class on Adobe Elements and hoping that that will give me a leg up on the “ShowHorse” software version.
    Any help…? thanks…

    Reply
    • Hello Dottie, thank you for your questions. These are Adobe’s limitations, not ours – so not really sure what else to say about it… All of Adobe’s retail software is for a single user, and can be activated on up to two computers so long as only one installation is in use at any given time.

      The policy is actually more generous than other software makers like Symantec, where you have to purchase a new license for every single computer you install their software on.

      If you have any further questions about it, we would suggest reading the EULA for your product or perhaps contacting Adobe directly. Thanks and good luck!

  19. Ok, understood about not using it on two computers at the same time.

    However, in the case of a suite, say one user is using photoshop and another is using dreamweaver. Possible?

    Or can two different programs be used if one is offline?

    Reply
    • Welcome Gary, those are good questions. All the components of an Adobe Creative Suite are integrated and share the same single serial number. So running any part of it counts as “in use” on a given computer.

      (If instead you’ve purchased separate standalone Adobe applications with different license keys, then the answer would be different.)

      As for the second question: These applications naturally know when they’re being run, whether you are online or off at the moment – so no, you shouldn’t be using them at the same time, regardless of that. The licensing agreement is very clear on this so please be careful.

      Thanks for asking and good luck.

  20. Hello,

    I have cs4 installed on my mac already. I then bought a macbook and and installed the same cs4 package onto it. I understand that I am allowed it on two computers so did not think this would be a problem. Now I open up cs4 on my macbook and it says I have installed it on TWO other computers. I have definitely only installed it on this one and one other. So what is going on?? Please help me.

    Thank you
    Emma

    Reply
    • Greetings Emma, sometimes that happens, usually a glitch somewhere. The only way around it is to contact Adobe Customer Service and ask them to fix it in the database on their end.

      What they’ll typically do is remove all of the validations for your license key, and then you can start over from scratch by activating it only on the computers you want. You don’t need to uninstall the software or anything, just reenter the serial number as appropriate.

      Hope this helps!

  21. My computer can not start and needs to be formatted. I was wondering if CS5 can be deleted from and hard drive, and be downloaded again after my PC has been formatted. Can CS5 be reactivated?

    Reply

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