Set the computer clock back to January 1, 2006.
Last updated on
May 17, 2021 01:33:53 AM GMT
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Also Applies to Adobe After Effects CS4, Adobe After Effects CS5, Adobe Dreamweaver CS4, Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, Adobe Fireworks CS4, Adobe Fireworks CS5, Adobe Illustrator CS4, Adobe Illustrator CS5, Adobe InDesign CS4, Adobe InDesign CS5, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe Photoshop CS5, Adobe Premiere Pro, Contribute CS4, Contribute CS5, Creative Suite CS4, Creative Suite CS5, Flash Catalyst CS5, Flash Professional CS4, Flash Professional CS5, Photoshop Extended, Soundbooth
Issue
When you try to start a CS5 or CS4 application, you receive one of the following errors:
- "Licensing for this product has expired"
- "The serial number you used to activate this product has expired"
- "Invalid serial number. The serial number appears to be invalid"
These errors can occur after the application has been running successfully for some time, or when you start it for the first time.
Solutions
Solution 1 (CS5): Enter a new serial number when prompted.
If licensing has expired for a CS5 application, the application prompts you to enter a new serial number. When prompted for the serial number, enter the number from your purchased product.
Solution 2: Turn back the system clock, start your application, and erase the stored expiring serial number.
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Launch the affected application, or any application within the affected Creative Suite package.
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Choose Help > Deactivate, and select the option Erase This Serial Number (CS4) or Deactivate Permanently (CS5).
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Quit the application.
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Set the computer clock back to the current date.
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Start the application.
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When prompted for the serial number, enter the number from your purchased product.
Solution 3: Delete the PCD and caps database files, and reinstall.
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Uninstall the application or entire Creative Suite package. To uninstall on Windows, use the Add Or Remove Programs feature in Windows. To uninstall on Mac OS, navigate to an application folder (for example, /Application/Adobe Photoshop CS4). Then double-click the Uninstall shortcut (for example Uninstall Adobe Photoshop CS4).
Important: Before you uninstall the software, make sure that you have the installation media to reinstall it. Replacement media isn’t available for previous versions of Adobe software. -
Delete the following folders:
Windows:
/Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/Adobe PCD
/Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/caps
/Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/backup
Mac OS:
[startup drive]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PCD
[startup drive]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/caps
[startup drive]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/backup
Note: These folders are located in the Library folder at the root of your startup drive, not in the Library folder in your user home folder! -
Reinstall your application or Creative Suite package, and enter the serial number from your purchased product.
Additional information
There are three situations that can cause this error:
- You participated in a prerelease program, and the prerelease serial number is still stored on your computer. Serial numbers for prerelease programs expire when the prerelease program ends.
- You installed a trial version of the application on the computer, which has expired.
- Adobe Customer Service deactivated your serial number. This issue can occur when you request a new serial number from Adobe Customer Service.
The error "The license for this product has expired" is unrelated to the error "Licensing for this product has stopped working." An expired license means that a serial number, which is no longer valid, is still stored in the pcd.db database file. The valid serial number you received with your purchased product didn't overwrite the expired serial number during the installation process. Removing the expired serial number allows you to enter your valid serial number.
The error "Licensing for this product has stopped working" is related to the activation component of Creative Suite 4 software. It is related to a problem with the FlexNet Service. (Creative Suite 5 software uses a different activation component.) See these documents for solutions on how to resolve this particular error:
- Launching Adobe products on Mac OS X 10.6 results in error "Licensing for this product has stopped working."
- Error "Licensing for this product has stopped working" when you launch Acrobat 9 or Adobe Creative Suite 4 products.
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