Issue
When you start Adobe Photoshop CS2, the application returns the error message, "Your Adobe Photoshop user name, organization or serial number is missing or invalid. The application cannot continue and must now exit."
Solutions
Do one or more of the following solutions:
Solution 1: Run the installer, input the user information, and then quit the installer.
1. Run the Photoshop Installer from the CD, and proceed through the installation screens.
2. Type in your Username, Organization, and Serial Number when you are asked to Personalize Your Software, and click Next.
3. The installation begins. Go to the Installer menu, and choose Quit Installer and close the installer window.
4. Restart Photoshop.
Solution 2: Removeand then reinstall Photoshop.
If the Photoshop serial number does not display on the bottom of the Photoshop splash screen when you open Photoshop, then you may have another version of Photoshop on the computer. Empty the trash, remove the copy of Photoshop and reinstall it.
Important: Remove any beta copies of Photoshop you may have installed.
To remove and then reinstall Photoshop:
1. Move any personal files from the Adobe Photoshop folder(s) on the hard disk to another location.
2. Delete all Adobe Photoshop CS2 folder(s) in the Applications folder.
3. Drag the Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop CS2 Settings folder to the Trash.
4. Insert the Photoshop CD-ROM, double-click the installer file in the Photoshop folder on the CD-ROM, and then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
Solution 3: Determine if the Adobe registration database contains Photoshop information.
Check for a serial number in the Adobe Registration Database file, if you do not find registration data, re-create the registration data.
To check for a serial number:
1. Locate the Adobe Registration Database file in the Library/Application Support/Adobe folder.
2. Open it in Text Edit or another text editing application.
3. Look for the "SERIAL=" line in the [Photoshop 9.0] section.
Important: If the Photoshop 9.0 section has serial number information, then use a different solution.
To re-create the registration data:
1. Drag the Adobe Registration Database file to the Desktop.
2. Reinstall Photoshop.
3. Open the new Adobe Registration Database file in the Library/Application Support/Adobe folder in Text Edit. Open the old Adobe Registration Database file on the Desktop in Text Edit.
4. Copy the registration information for all other Adobe applications from the old Database file (on the Desktop) to the new file (in the Adobe folder).
5. Save the new Adobe Registration Database file.
6. Start Photoshop.
Solution 4: Determine if the Adobe registration database contains Creative Suite 2.0 information.
If Photoshop CS2 was installed as a component of Adobe Creative Suite 2.0, check for registration information in the Adobe Registration Database file; if you do not find registration data, re-create the registration data.
To re-create the registration data:
1. Locate the Adobe Registration Database file in the Library/Application Support/Adobe folder.
2. Open this file in Text Edit or another text editing application.
3. Locate the "EPIC_ORG=" and "EPIC_NAME=" lines in the [Adobe Creative Suite 2.0] section. If these lines are blank after the equals sign, proceed with the steps below. If these lines contain organization and name information, use a different solution.
4. Locate the "EPIC_ORG=" and "EPIC_NAME" lines under the "EPIC_APP=Adobe Photoshop CS2" line.
5. Select both lines, and choose Edit > Copy.
6. In the [Adobe Creative Suite 2.0] section, select both the "EPIC_ORG=" and "EPIC_NAME" lines, and choose Edit > Paste.
7. Save and close the Adobe Registration Database file.
8. Start Photoshop.
Solution 5: Repair disk permissions by running Disk Utility, create and log in to a new user account with administrator access privileges, and reinstall Photoshop.
Occasionally, your disk permissions or a user account can become corrupted. Create a new account, log in to the new account, and then reinstall Photoshop.
To repair your permissions using the Disk Utility:
Your disk permissions may be damaged. They should be repaired before attempting to reinstall.
1. Choose Go > Applications, open the Utilities folder, and then double-click Disk Utility.
2. Select the First Aid tab.
3. Select the volume on which you want to install Photoshop, and then click Repair Disk Permissions.
To create a new account with administrator access privileges:
To create a new user account in Mac OS X v10.3.x:
1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. Click Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign toward the bottom of the window on the left.
4. Type a user name and a password that you'll remember, such as test.
5. Click the Security tab, and then select Allow User To Administer This Computer. This makes the test user an administrator.
6. Close the Accounts window.
7. Choose Log Out from the Apple menu.
8. When the log in screen displays, choose the test user.
To create a new user account in Mac OS X v10.2.8:
1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. From the View menu, choose Users, and then click New User.
3. Type the user name (for example, test).
4. Click the Password tab, and then enter a password that you'll remember, such as test.
5. Select Allow User To Administer This Computer. This makes the test user an administrator.
5. Click OK and close the Accounts window.
6. Choose Log Out from the Apple menu.
7. When the log in screen displays, choose the test user.
To log in as a user with administrator access privileges:
1. From the Apple menu, choose Log Out.
2. Click Log Out when the system returns the message "Are you sure you want to quit all applications and log out now?"
3. When the log in screen appears, select a user with access privileges, type the appropriate password, and then press Return.
Reinstall Photoshop, and start it.
Solution 6: Ensure the SIF file permissions are set correctly.
If the permissions are not correct on the ASN folder and the PS.sif file inside it, then Photoshop cannot access registration data.
To set SIF file permissions:
1. Ctrl+click the Adobe Photoshop CS2 application file in Applications/Adobe Photoshop CS2 and choose Show Package Contents.
2. Open the Contents folder, and then open the Resources folder.
3. Get Info on the ASN folder.
4. Select Details in the Ownership & Permissions section of the ASN Info window. The Access for You, Owner, Group, and Others should be Read & Write.
5. If any of the Access pop-up menus is set to Read only or No Access, change it to Read & Write. You may need to click the lock icon and type in your system password to make these changes.
Note: If an option is dimmed, you don't have permission to change it. Contact the Administrator of your computer for assistance.
6. Click Apply To Enclosed Items, and then close the Get Info window.
7. Start Photoshop.
Solution 7: Start Photoshop from the application icon, and re-create the alias if necessary.
If your alias is damaged, then it can cause various errors to occur when starting Photoshop.
1. Double-click on the Photoshop CS2 application file in the Applications/Adobe Photoshop CS2 folder.
2. If Photoshop opens, drag all your Photoshop CS2 aliases into the Trash, and empty the Trash.
Important: Make sure you drag only aliases into the Trash. You do not create an alias when you drag your application icon onto the Desktop. If you dragged your application icon onto the Desktop, then drag it back into the Adobe Photoshop CS2 folder before you delete your aliases. If you delete the application icon instead of, or in addition to, your Photoshop aliases, then you will need to reinstall Photoshop.
3. Select the Photoshop CS2 application file, and choose File > Make Alias.
4. Drag the alias to the Desktop.
5. Start Photoshop.
6. If Photoshop opens, and you'd like the alias to be in the Dock, drag it to the Dock. Start Photoshop to test the alias.
Note: If you drag the alias to the Dock from the Adobe Photoshop CS2 folder, after you delete a damaged alias from the Dock, then the new alias might not replace the old alias correctly. Drag the alias to the Desktop and then to the Dock to correctly remove the old alias data from the Dock.
