21. Reluctantly, I'm for it. On first thought, the activation seems intrusive, but think about this: the people it's really screwing are the hack designers who work for free and undermine our professionalism. Not only did we have to pay for the software, but we have to pay our dues in other ways too just to have the experience to use Photoshop well. Never before have novices been allowed such easy access to the tools of the trade as by pirating the software intended for the trade's people.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by ddefrance

22. I hate activation. Everytime restart the computer, must reactivation.... or change activation to dongle.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by tklim

23. I think if Adobe wants to be the industry standard they have to be a little flexible. I personally have 3 computers I use and only I use and would like to be able to load on all three.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Paula Jean

24. nay
The software activation process is faulty in the sense that I need to activate the product every time that I use it. Adobe acknowledges the problem on their web site, but they recommend reformatting your hard drive and reinstalling as a solution. Are they nuts?

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by peter

25. If you are experiencing activation issues please go to the bottom of this post. Subject #3. This will solve about 1/4 of these comments in this comment section.

I'm all for activation. Remember, the less casual piracy, the lower the price goes. (Down $50 in one year since activation introduced.)

1) Regarding puting your copy on more than 2 computers:
Please consider the transfer activation option, that when you are able to do so takes all of 15 seconds. This allows you to switch computers, because think of it...
A single user license... just you.
Two activations.... 2 computers.
You are (1) not supposed to use the software on 2 computers at the same time (but can have it installed), (2) why would you use 3 at once, and (3) it's just you, again, not supposed to be anyone else on a single user license.

2) This stops the casual copiers. People in a business environment that have 20 computers as part of a small business, that load acrobat on all 20 from a single license. "We know people are going to hack our software... we just put this in place to be a speed bump." Also, have you seen all the websites that are offering Acrobat for $50 When it should be $299? This prevents the small-time selling of software with generic serial numbers. (Yes, they can still include a keygen, but you would be supprised how some people don't know how to use them.)

3) Activation issues concerning RAID arrays and/or SATA Drive Systems (My Generic Post):

Have you contacted Adobe recently?
800-833-6687, option #2.

Customer Service has since had an "Activation Patch" released to them for customer use. You have to log into a secure FTP site and download it with a password they will provide you after they check the situation out on your serial number, and determine if you need it, then make a couple of changes to your activation account.

See This Web Document:
"Activation screen appears each time you start (Acrobat, Adobe Creative Suite 2.0 on Windows)"
http://www.adobe.com/support/salesdocs/1008894.html

The patch, in 1 in 100,000 cases does not solve the issue with raid controllers. If it does not, another customer support person will respond to your personal issue, and troubleshoot with you to fix this issue.

I heard of an Adobe customer that had a RAID controller, NO HARD DRIVES, just a controller in their computer, and it would cause the "Activation Identifier Flip Flop" issue.

Adobe customers are now urged to call customer service when experiencing RAID issues such as opening one application, and having to activate, then opening another application and having to do it all over again.

Activation With Adobe: You do it once, and if you have to, you do it again, and usually if you have an internet connection, the activation takes all of 5 seconds. There can be other underlying issues, but that is what the patch is for.

~CH
Adobe Customer

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by CH

26. ALSO one more thing. Adobe allows you to cross grade as people call it, or XPLAT their adobe software from One Platform to Another. They don't make you purchase another whole copy, unless you intend to use both platforms at the same time.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by CH

27. Photoshop helpline is a joke. Tried to activate my 2nd license after my labtop died and I purchased a new one. Automated phone system tells me I'm next on line for half an hour?!?!! tried again next day, same thing for 1 hour.
going to get a crack for my legally purchased version. Pissed off with Adobe. It sucks.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Paul

28. What Adobe and the majority of the software and cd record companies must do is to lower their prices. They charging a lot more of the real price/value. If they don't do so, piracy will continue no matter what kind of activation or key they use on their products.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Arthur

29. I've just acquired a new computer and so wanted to deactivate my original and transfer CS2 to the new. Unfortunately, deactivation failed with a cryptic error message that not even Adobe support could provide an explanation of.

Fortunately, my new computer was my second activation and so was allowed anyway, but now I'm not sure I would be able to install it on a legal second machine. I have their assurance that they will take care of me, but I really don't believe it all that much.

It's amazing - not even Adobe understands why their own activation technology fails. Either fix it or remove it from the product.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by David Harrison

30. Activation is a waste of time, we all know it can be circumvented and worse still it's a pain for people who've bought legitimate versions. If I carry out a System restore or add a new piece of hardware I have to re-authorise (both of these happened to me recently). It's frustrating, additionally Acrobat seems to continually need re-activation. Adobe, give it up - anyone who's desperate to copy your software and use it illegally will - all you're doing is frustrating and infuriating your legitimate users.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Will

31. Activation on products is to stop people who download the program using Limewire and other various P2P file sharing systems from attaining a full working version.

All they ask you to do is key in a 16 degit code and activate your copy, this is so when you go out and spend $500+ on the program that you feel it's fairer when other's just download it.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Simon Tomlinson

32. Activation is silly, especially over the internet. Hopefully the activation software doesn't cause other issues with the program like the USB iLok key which can have unpredictable results on some computers. It also doesn't look forward enough. What if the internet based system used for activation changes in a major way and renders the activation system inoperable for the current installers. Not that technology every changes overnight right ;-) I still use Photoshop 4 for a lot of various reasons. Thank goodness I don't have to rely on a 6+ years old activation system and pray it works to install it after a system rebuild. I have a piece of older software that I still need that uses the Zeus key installed off of a floppy disk. You get 2 keys and you have to move the key back to the floppy before removing the program. Well, after a system crash, I lost one key so that only leaves one left. It wouldn't be such a problem if the software manufacturer hadn't gone out of business years ago. Or if anyone picked up where they left off. They must not have gone out of business because of pirated software.

So much money wasted on keeping a small percent of sales. We all wish that money went into making the program work better, or cut the price to snag more legit buyers.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Ryan Burkholder

33. I am tired of activating my products. Everytime I run Acrobat, or Photoshop I have to activate the software again. It is a hassle and a problem. At least if you're going to create an activation system make it so that it works properly.

I vote Nay!!

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Rkane

34. What I think in general about protection schemes is that the genuine user (the one that pays) is who gets worst in the business: he pays more to the producer of the software to protect his own product. He gets a lot of trouble with all that, for instance, in big companies it's usually very difficult to deploy the software to several legitim computers; crackers on the other hand don't bother much with such issues. Crime does pay! I am tired from being a so called "genuine user", I hate all that, and I move when possible to open source alternatives. Open Source does rule, and we have better support from the community and programmers.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Paulo

35. A big NAY. I had to call in to reactivate after changing to a new laptop - and their phone system was really messed up - this was during the first week of Oct. The voice recording was breaking up, there were long pauses between words in a sentence. Two time I was put on hold for a real person for such a long time that the 7pm quitting time arrived - one more than half an hour, the other over 2 hours. Finally I called in the morning and got thru. Strange that the morning was better, since I'm on the west coast.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Charles Wallace

36. NAY. It's a total, time/money-wasting hassle.

I've had to call in regarding activation three times already and have two more calls to make now that I figured out the problem. I have a 40 Gb external USB hard drive that I use to move data between laptop and desktop. I finally realized plugging it into one or the other breaks the activation and requires a call. An external hard drive breaks activation!

If I activate with it plugged in, I'm screwed as soon as I unplug it and vice versa on both my laptop and desktop. It's a total waste.

And what about reading 50 digit numbers to each other over the phone each time I have to re-activate. Totally bogus!

I'm going to hunt down a corporate serial number that doesn't require activation and be done with it. So much for paying for the software and trying to be honest.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by maf

37. I am a graphics designer. I use 3 computers and a laptop with 3 printers in my studio. I work alone. When I have jobs printing I do use these simulateously, so i resent that i will need to purchase a second copy. i didnt realize this when I bought cs2 since other versions didnt have activation. I guess I'll just use old versions on 2 computers, But this stinks. There has to be a better solution for honest buyers.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by lori weitzel

38. To Ruth above, I had the same problems with Acrobat 7.0, and was forced to spend an afternoon with Adobe tech "support" while trying to legally install to my second copy to my home tower.

The RAID/SATA solution did not work for me, and I was told it was because my laptop was partitioned into C and D drives, which Sony did to the machine before I ever got it. So there was nothing I could do according to Adobe but reformat into one drive. Hello? is that not intrusive enough???

Finally, I had to uninstall Acrobat 7 and use a pirated copy of Acrobat 6 just to get any work done in CS2. I feel no guilt, paid my dues for a legit copy and only got a lame runaround from Adobe.

This form of protection for their software serves no good purpose whatsoever. There are just as many hacks and cracks for CS2 as for the original CS, and now people like me who wouldn't normally venture into such murky waters are forced to just to be able to use what I legally ought to be able to.

This may be the future of licensing, but honest users resorting to cracks will also be a part of that future.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by James

39. Activation is so bad that I would gladly return CS2 for my $1200. Fat chance. And I've loved Adobe products for 16 years. I've had to activate 3 times in 3 days. Now in the middle of the night it wants to be activated again - won't connect to the server and no one's home at Adobe this hour for phone activation. That will make for a blown deadline tomorrow. So No, I don't like activation at all, thank you for asking.

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by LW

40. I have no abstract opinion on activation. What I know about the implementation is this: I installed CS2 that I use for my hobby during week-ends. One week later, I upgraded my hard drive, migrating all my data and applications by cloning it (I had to reactivate, since PS considers this as a second installation). I then updated my hard drive drivers, and the change was significant enough for PS to consider it was, again, in need of activation.
Automatic activation failed, and since I do not access my home computer while I am at work and it seems that the people in charge of dealing with calls for activation work normal office hours, I am stuck out of PS: I cannot use it any more since the license is now "invalid".
I suppose I now have to take note of the activation details on a piece of paper, and call them when they are ready.
This is unnecessary painful. I paid for the software, and depriving me from my access to it when I respected the license agreement can be considered theft.
This situation is absurd, and I particularly resent being treated worse than people who have illegally copied the application.

- Armand

Posted at 6:36AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Armand Hirt