Adobe CS3 Activation issue

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I've had CS3 since 2009, legal copy, purchased from Adobe. About two weeks ago, the activation screen came up when I started Photoshop. I entered my key (though it was weird) it said "Successfully activated." When I clicked "next" the program closed. I restarted it and same thing. Happens with all the CS3 programs.

Called Adobe Activation Support. Tried everything, nothing worked. She transfered me to technical support with a ticket number. Well, Adobe ALWAYS has at least an hour and a half wait to talk to someone.

I've tried uninstalling, reinstalling, restoring from Time Machine, repair installation and clean installation.

Anyone else had this? Any solution without wiping the hard disc and reinstalling system?

Also, I use Aperture for most of my photo work, but Adobe's poor support and activation fiascos have got me convinced to try to wean from Adobe as much as I can. Best replacements for:

Photoshop
Fireworks or Illustrator. I only use the text features of these. I'm primarily a photographer, and put text on photos for class pictures, etc., but I prefer a text that has more options than

Photoshop (I like to put a thin black outline around the letters, etc.)

Dreamweaver. I currently use Wordpress for my web site, but need something for FTP transfers and general management. I'm also thinking of getting away from Wordpress, as the html screen keeps trying to help me "fix" my html and screwing it up.

I got some other programs in my version of CS3. Bridge, Contribute, and Flash, but I can live without those.

I'm thinking of taking the day off and calling Adobe to go on eternahold and hope someone answers in a couple of hours without cutting me off. Looked all over their web site for email support, but it just sends you to a bunch of "is your computer plugged in?" level answers. I've worked with Photoshop for over ten years and this is a real technical bug. I know, TL; DR.
 
C

chas_m

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I'm lucky: my copy of CS3 hasn't required re-activation since the last time I actually changed hard drives (and thus of course had to re-install it). It's still working fine under Lion.

As for replacements, there aren't really any, just poor substitutes or completely different approaches.

You might want to look at Pixelmator if you're not a heavy PS user -- I use it for tasks every day, but it lacks a lot of PS features (still, it's $30!). You might look at Art Text (from belightsoft, I think) for textured/outlined/fancy text.

If you get lucky and get a hold of someone at Adobe who genuinely wants to help, you may get it resolved. Otherwise, I have to say that although my limited experience with Adobe support has been excellent thus far, there's really no impetus for them to help you with CS3, as they abandoned that a long time ago. The "real" solution is to find a cheap-but-legal copy of CS5 or 5.5 and upgrade; you'll need it if you ever want to go to CS6 for the upgrade price anyway.
 
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Thanks,
I've never had a problem with Adobe software itself, and agree that everything else is a poor substitute. It's just that the current software meets all my needs & I prefer not to spend a grand replacing it. I also don't want to do a "wipe and reinstall" of my entire system. I suspect that wherever Adobe stores the activation info is corrupted past the point of a simple software deletion and reinstall of just the Adobe programs will take care of it. If I wipe and reinstall from Time Machine, I'm pretty sure the corrupted files would just be restored also.
Adobe tech support has always been very good when I can get to them, but the two hour wait time (with bad music in my ears) to actually talk to someone is a pain.
 

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