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“How Many Computers Can You Install or Run Adobe Software On?”
How Many Systems Can You Use Adobe Products (CC, CS6) On?
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Hi, my company has bought a copy of CS5 for me and it is installed on my work computer but I also want to install it on my laptop at home which they have agreed to just for any out of hours work required. I assume this is within the terms of the license but do I need to install the software with the same licensee names or does that not matter? Was concerned it may caused problems when doing a software update if they are in 2 names. Thanks
Hello Charlie, think you should be OK with that so long as the information is the same… Just keep in mind that the user/licensee has to be the same on both computers, and you can’t be using them at the same time.
Hi everyone,
I’m thinking of getting Adobe Photoshop CS5 (Student version). I’m wondering if I have it installed on my current computer, then I get a new computer and try install it on that…will my license still work for the new computer?
Hey there Jayne, no worries – see our how-to here:
How to Move Adobe Software Between Computers, or from PC to Mac
Hi,
Me and my friend want to buy CS5 photoshop extended ( Student ), and put it on his laptop and mine, the only problem we have is about the fact that we can’t use them at the same time. What will happen if we use it at the same time?
Thanks
Hi Grant, thanks for your question. What you’re considering would be against the terms and restrictions of the software license… Adobe CS5, like most modern software, knows exactly which computers are activated with the product, and which systems are currently in use. For more details, see this earlier comment and the responses which follow. Read the EULA itself if you have any doubts.
You’re lucky though because the Photoshop CS5 Student Edition is already discounted 80% off for you, a deal for which the rest of us don’t qualify.
I installed CS4 Student on two different laptops in the past 2 years. I no longer have either laptop, nor did I uninstall CS4… Will I be able to install CS4 again on a third laptop, by any chance? Thanks.
Greetings A.M. If you still have any kind of access to either laptop, then you can try our techniques for transferring the software to another computer, even if you don’t have your serial number handy.
If you have no access at all, then any new installations of the product are likely to fail on licensing limitations. Your best bet in that case would be to contact Adobe Customer Service and see if they can help… (click on “Activation and deactivation”)
Sometimes they can completely deactivate all your previous installations, allowing you to start anew. Good luck!
Hi,
I’m thinking of buying an iMac from someone who has already installed CS5 on it but plans to keep the software and install it on his new iMac when he gets it in about a week. If I buy it will I only be able to use CS5 when he is not using it or can we both run the programs at the same without any trouble? Will this create any other additional problems?
Thanks
Hello John, if the software is installed on two computers, the licensing clearly restricts its use to only one computer at a time… The second copy of the software is also for same person’s (the owner’s) exclusive use.
Be careful as we’ve heard stories of Adobe software suddenly becoming useless for people who’ve tried installing on both a friend’s and on their own computer.
Computer sellers are probably best off deactivating any installed Adobe software… because otherwise it’s compromising your serial number and your available use of the software… See How to Move Adobe Software Between Machines. Hope this helps.
Hi,
I downloaded the trial versions of illustrator, indesign and photoshop cs5 over a month ago. Since the trial has expired, I purchased the cs5 design premium suite, the physical product. I was wondering… do you recommend uninstalling the three programs I downloaded already and installing the whole suite again? Or can I just type in the serial number that came with the product I bought for the existing products and just install the other programs as I need them? Sorry if this question is not very clear. The product I bought was also the student version if that makes a difference.
Also, I was wondering, my laptop is a bit old and has crashed a few times. If I have to wipe my laptop, when I reinstall the software, will it count as my second use? Or will Adobe know that it is the same computer? I hope to buy a desktop soon and I don’t want to use my second install unless I have to.
Thank you in advance!
Hey there RML, those are great questions – and deserve good answers. In theory you should be able to keep the individual point products you trialed on your computer without needing to reinstall them from the suite edition you purchased, and just enter your license key. According the CS5 Trial FAQ:
Q: What if I tried multiple CS5 products?
A: If you tried multiple products and purchased a suite edition that contains both, you can enter the suite edition serial number in one of the components and the other one will automatically pick up the serial number. You will need to install the additional components contained in the suite edition.
Now, your mileage may vary with the CS5 Student & Teacher Editions since those are licensed a bit differently. But worst case, you can just try it and see if it will work. If it doesn’t work, then just deactivate and reinstall from your suite disks.
Note that the trial editions for those three CS5 products (Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign) are exactly the same as the purchased editions – but for the CS5 video and audio products (Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Soundbooth), the trial editions do not include entirely everything that the full editions do. Yet even if you had those on trial, once you entered your purchased serial number, what was left out would be automatically picked up by a simple online update.
As to your second question: whenever reinstalling your software (whether on the same computer or a different one), it’s always safest to deactivate it first before uninstalling – that way you’re certain that Adobe won’t ever get the count wrong on your correct number of machines running the software.
Hope this helps!
Hi. Thank you very much for your helpful site. I’m considering buying the CS5 Student edition. After reading some of the questions and answers about the software, I have some questions of my own. It sounds as if the software needs to access Adobe’s site to verify the IP address and to confirm that the software is only activated on one computer at a time. But what if I want to run the software on a computer that isn’t connected to the internet? Do I have to have internet access to run this program?
Also, my computer is a second-hand one that I bought from a friend. I don’t know how Adobe’s verification works, but if my computer (or operating system or internet explorer or whatever other software) has been previously registered to someone else, will it cause problems with activation of Adobe software that is registered in my name?
Hi Cara, you’re most welcome… The answers to your first question are in the license agreement, see section 14, “Internet Connectivity,” in particular subsection 14.3, “Activation.”
For your second question, you should definitely be okay if you register your new product with Adobe.
If you were purchasing Adobe software along with the computer (although note that the Student & Teacher Editions are not transferable), you could follow the steps in our recent article, How to Transfer Legal Ownership of an Adobe Software License (like CS5) from one person to another.
Thank you for your comment and the kind words!
My company purchased CS5 Design Premium for my work computer. In a previous post, you said it’s within the terms of my software agreement to also install this on my home computer for work I do from home (10/8/10 post from Charlie). I’ve already installed the 30 day free trial of CS5 Design Premium on my home computer. Whenever I start a program, it asks to either continue in trial mode or enter a 24 digit registration number. Do I just need the registration number from my employer and enter it on my home computer, or do I need to bring the disks home and re-install it? Thanks for your assistance. @ProDesignTools
Greetings Greg, and good news – you don’t need to reinstall Adobe trials to turn them into permanent versions…
Just enter your purchased serial number and the trials will convert to full. If any files were not included as part of the trial, they will be automatically downloaded from Adobe to complete the product.
For more information, see the CS5 FAQ – Trial Information: Convert My Trial.
What happens if I try to use the software on my computer and my laptop at the same time? Will it destroy my system if I work on multiple projects and run both computers simultaneously?
Hello John, the software can be installed on two systems but the licensing restricts its runtime use to only one computer at a time… So no, it won’t destroy your system(s), but there is a limitation in the activation.
For more information, see Adobe’s License and Activation FAQ.
Hi There,
I appreciate any suggestions in advance. I Have 6 workstations and would like to install Master Collection CS5 on all units so my employees can work from here. Is this possible if i make one purchase or would I need to purchase multiple licenses?
Thanks Thomas, that’s a good and common question… If you have multiple computers and multiple users, you definitely want to take a look at the online discounts and ease of maintenance available through the Adobe Volume Licensing Store.
You can reach the site directly here, from which you can make a single purchase to cover all computers and users as you requested.
Hi, I have a question about the 30 day trial version of InDesign CS5 (PC). We actually work with a middle school and want to introduce InDesign to middle students using the 30 day trial version before purchasing multiple licenses. Is it possible to download the trial version of InDesign onto multiple computers at a school? Or alternatively could a DVD of the trial version be purchased and installed on about 15 computers for the students to practice using the software before we purchase volume licenses?
Thanks!
Hey there J.D., happy to answer your questions… Adobe’s trials are free to download for anyone and installable on any computer. Once installed, each computer will run one free tryout for a period of 30 calendar days. When the month is up, the trials can be converted to permanent versions by purchasing the software, or uninstalled.
So all this is good news for your plans, hopefully.
Some trials have DVDs available for purchase from Adobe at a nominal S&H charge of $10-$15 – you will see these when you go to the download page… However, DVDs are available only for the CS5 suites, which are quite large (several gigabytes) to download.
For InDesign CS5, there isn’t a DVD offered by Adobe but the download is 718 MB which doesn’t take very long with a broadband connection.
Once you have the download, you are free to burn it onto a DVD yourself and install the trials wherever you wish.
If you have any further question about Adobe’s trials, please see the Creative Suite 5 Trial FAQ.
If you have any difficulty with the pages above for downloading the software, try our CS5 direct download links instead.
Hope this helps!
If i buy adobe Light room can i download it onto two different computers with the same serial number and use it on both yet have a different registry account on those two computers?
Hi Dylan, not sure what you mean by “registry account” – do you mean can you have different software registrations with Adobe for each computer? If so, then unfortunately the answer is no – purchasing, licensing, and registering the software is all with one user per serial number that you buy.
So you could download and install a single copy of Lightroom on both of your computers, but the software registration would be for one owner (you).
If that doesn’t answer your question, please feel free to post a follow-up – thanks!
Hi,
I have CS5 Design Premium – Student/Teacher Edition currently installed on my computer, but I’m about to reformat that computer. During the deactivation, do I “Suspend Activation” or “Permanently Deactivate”? After I reformat I intend on re-installing CS5 on the same computer.
I also have Lightroom 3 – Student/Teacher Edition, is there a deactivation process for that?
Absolutely Jason – no problem. For all your answers, please see our other article:
How to Move or Upgrade Adobe Software from One Computer to Another
Also possibly helpful in your instance:
What are the Limitations of the Adobe Student & Teacher Editions?
Hello.
I work for a non-profit arts education organization and have received a license code for CS5 Design Premium from work (it’s described as an “Adobe donation” from our tech suppliers). From reading this forum, most licenses allow for installing CS5 on two computers (one for home, other for laptop). My install instructions state I can only install on one computer.
While I will mostly use my laptop for CS5, I would like to use my home computer for CS5 during the breaks in the school year. When i get to that point, can I deactivate my laptop CS5, then install/activate on my home computer?
Thanks and Happy New Year!
F
Yes, you bet Francis – that’s unusual but no sweat: in that case you could actually install CS5 on both computers, but manually change which one is activated at any given point in time… That would switch which one you could actually run the software on.
On the product’s Help menu, choose “Deactivate” and then “Suspend Activation.”
Deactivating on one computer allows you to activate your Adobe product on another computer, provided you are acting in accordance with the Software License Agreement. Make sure you are connected to the Internet before you deactivate.
It the past this would have been a problem because Adobe had a limit on the number of times their software could be de/reactivated, but this limitation has recently been removed…
For more details (including reactivation etc), see our article on how to move Adobe licenses between systems.
Congrats on your fortunate gift!
Thanks for the scoop, ProDesign!
I appreciate knowing I can use CS5 on both computers at different times.
Sounds like I don’t have to uninstall on my laptop, before using on my home computer, just deactivate from the laptop. Cool! Does the de/re-activation process take a while?
Thanks,
F
Yes, that’s correct Francis – and each action should hopefully only take a minute or two…
If you run into any difficulty, just circle back here, or contact Adobe Customer Support – thanks!
@ProDesignTools
Hi,
I’m not Cara but I have a quite similar question. Recently bought Photoshop CS5 from a licensed Adobe seller (electronic edition), installed it on PC and laptop, entered serial and activated it on both machines. No problems there, no error messages.
However, I just noticed that the PS copy on my PC tries to connect to activate.adobe.com after every startup. I have no idea why – the software seems correctly activated (the deactivate option is not dimmed but accessible, but I don’t want to tamper with it unnecessarily) and hitherto works well.
I also haven’t seen that behaviour on my laptop copy but haven’t been using it that much either so far.
After reading all those posts I now assume that the contacting activation.adobe.com occurs to check the number of simultaneously running copies (is that correct or why else?)
As I travel with my laptop a lot and seldom have internet access, now I am wondering what would happen if I used Photoshop offline and the program tried to contact Adobe’s activation server then. Shutdown? Failure?
Or briefly: 2 questions:
1) why would a legal, correctly activated copy of PS CS5 phone to activation.adobe.com on every startup?
2) can I work with PS CS5 without problems even if I am for, say, 2-4 weeks without net access?
I have read the license pdf by Adobe but could not find any clue to those two questions. The passages about the software “intermittently” phoning Adobe do not help me to discern if that is the behaviour I am witnessing on my PC (and if, why doesn’t it occur on my notebook?). So any further help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot in advance!
Welcome Mick, and thank you for your comments and detailed questions. The answers to some of what you’re asking are covered on Adobe’s Activation and Deactivation information page. And your guess is correct – “the software uses this [server] connection to detect how many times you have activated the software.”
Nonetheless, it’s definitely possible to use Adobe software without being connected to the Internet (once it’s been properly activated) – or else there would be a lot of angry laptop owners running around… At least, certainly for reasonable periods.
So, you should be okay… For proof, see this Photoshop CS5 forum post.
If you have further questions about it, you may wish to contact Adobe Support directly… Although, it’s likely they are a bit opaque or nonspecific about it just to protect the mechanics of the activation process.
Hi there,
I can’t seem to find a direct answer to my problem anywhere and would very much appreciate your help!
Basically I purchased a copy of adobe cs5 web premium about 6 months ago and installed and activated it on my laptop. Now I want to know if I deactivate the software and my adobe account then uninstall it, would I be able to pass it on to a friend and then they re-activate it in their own name/adobe account? Or would they require my account details to run it?
Any insight you could give me would be excellent!
Thanks, steve.
Sure Steve, we can give you a direct and definitive answer to that.
If it’s an Adobe educational edition, then it’s not transferable… Read more about the restrictions of the student & teacher editions.
But instead if it’s a full commercial product, then yes – you can do exactly as you described… See our recent article here for the details:
How to Transfer an Adobe Software License between Two Parties
Hope this answers your question!
Thank you very much for your reply, it was very helpful!
I do have one more question to ask, in relation to my previous question about transferring the licence to another person – could I just deactivate my software and unregister with adobe so that for instance if I listed the software for sale somewhere then could I sell it on, or would the purchaser still need the transfer form filled out by themselves and me?
Basically could I restore the software to its original inactivated/unregistered version I purchased in the first place for re-sale?
Sorry if this is confusing yet again!
Thanks, Steve
Hello again Steve, thanks for your follow-up and you’re very welcome!
As far as we are aware, there isn’t any way to unregister your software with Adobe – but you can contact them to see if there’s any way (and please post back if you do).
If you sell your registered software your best bet is to just use the license transfer procedure linked in the previous comment… That will unregister you and register the buyer in one action. Good luck Steve!
PS – If your software weren’t registered, then it would effectively be anonymous and could be resold simply after fully deactivating and uninstalling it from all systems… However, this isn’t an argument to not register your product, as are a lot of important reasons and benefits for doing so.
If you’re a teacher and buy the CS5 Student and Teacher Edition software and provide the proper ID, are you required to register your software? Does it have to be in your name specifically?
Hi Jennifer, please see our related article:
What are the Limitations of Adobe’s Student & Teacher Editions?
Thanks and hope this helps.
Hi
I am purchasing the CS5 Design Std and will be utilizing it on my laptop, can we (small company) at a later stage upgrade to an office license or we will we need to purchase another box? There will then be 2 computers operating with CS5.
Tx
Good question Nicci – and the answer is offices, companies, and other organizations should definitely look into an Adobe Volume License right from the start…
The reason is because the regular Adobe products and the Volume licenses are not interchangeable or upgradable with each other. The standard off-the-shelf software works as described in the article above – whereas the multi-user and multi-seat versions have a single serial number for your entire office or site, with a license management tool.
In fact, Adobe recently changed the name from the Volume Licensing Store to the Adobe Business Store to reflect the appropriate customer base.
Regardless of name, their site makes it easy and fast to get corporate pricing and volume discounts (see an instant quote) with no membership requirements and no agreements to sign, plus you can download the software right away… The program is available worldwide to commercial, education, and government organizations and covers most Adobe desktop products.
In other words, there is no downside at all for groups to start with this instead, only upside really.
Hi,
Thanks for this info, it has confirmed what I had hoped for. I have another question – if you have upgraded from CS3 suite to CS5 suite, then do the CS3 products still count as separate activations ?
e.g., could we use Photoshop CS3 on a desktop + laptop (not at the same time), and Photoshop CS5 on another two PC’s ?
Thanks
Greetings achap, good question and there are definite rules for how you are able to run your previous Adobe version after you use it to upgrade to a newer release.
These important restrictions are also outlined in the EULA… See here the specific requirements that apply for upgrades.
Thank you for your pertinent comment!
hello,
my boss is a dentist and he bought photoshop elements 9 for the practice. we have 5 computers that we need this software installed on, including my personal laptop. he wants me to get familiar with the software and be able to work on before and after patient presentations in the office as well as at home.
after i installed the software on the computers a message pops up saying that they must be registered or they will deactivate in 30 days. how do i register and keep this program active on on more than 2 computers?
Hi Jess, thanks for visiting. Each copy of Photoshop Elements, like most Adobe products, will activate on up to two computers. If you want more systems, then you’ll need additional licenses. So, you could either buy more copies of the software, or purchase a group or volume license.
Adobe’s volume licensing is really simple and cheaper actually, and can be done online… You get the software at a company discount and then it has an open license for all the machines you requested on your network… See the comment just above yours for more details. Hope this helps!
Hi, my dad has recently installed photoshop cs5 at his work. I was wondering will i be able to install on my home computer and use it without any problems?
Hello David, is it a business or corporate license? If so, then the following would apply:
2.6 Restrictions on Secondary Use by Volume Licensees. If the Software was obtained under an Adobe volume license program (currently known as Adobe Open Options) by any licensee other than an educational volume licensee, the second copy of the Software made under Section 2.5 must be used solely for the benefit and business of that volume licensee. For more information about secondary use by volume licensees, please visit our Web Site.
If not (if it’s the standard boxed or downloaded version of CS5), then per the regular Adobe license terms outlined above, the user of the second installation of the software must be the same as for the first copy, and not running at the same time.
Last month I was in College and I had to purchase Cs5 student addition. Since I have a netbook I had to place it on my girlfriend’s laptop. Now that her laptop is acting up in a way nothing works. Cs5 is going nuts and won’t bring up any pictures.
I was wondering what I can do to get photoshop to work again, since my girlfriend is getting a new laptop soon. Do I deactivate it and uninstall it or transfer it to her new laptop once she gets it. Plus I am getting a new laptop as well. Can you giving me some insight on what should be done.
Absolutely Omar, all your questions should be answered on our page here:
How to Move or Reinstall Adobe Software (CS5) between Computers or System Upgrades
But please post back if for some reason that doesn’t take care of it!
Hi,
I have bought student edition CS5 web premiere and i have installed it into my laptop. But i wanted to install it at my work in my imac but i was wondering will i be able to deactivate it if i quit my job? And will i be able to install it again if i have my another computer??? Can you let me knw ASAP coz i need to install it by 2morrow at wrk!!!
Thnx a lot
Hey there Ayusha – for moving CS5, please see the comment and response just above yours – thanks.