Trouble with Adobe LR licence agreement

I bought (!) LR 6 some months ago and installed it on my PC. So far it worked as desired. However today, when I tried to start the program again the licence agreement surprisingly popped  up demanding to agree to the terms and conditions for the installation of the CC products my product was claimed to be part of. That's definetly not true because I had bought the product, got the serial number for it but don't want to be part of the rental model Adobe wants to move everybody to. So I quitted the agreement for now but cannot start and use the program anymore, of course. That said, yesterday my internet connection was changed to a faster IP based VSDL-account by my ISP. Therefore I had to install another router and  rebuild my LAN but the IP of my PC remained the same. Could this change have caused the problem ? However, since the serial number of LR and the hardware of my PC was not changed at all, it shouldn't be the reason of the trouble. So should I agree to the licence agreement request or do I walk into the trap of the CC model by doing so ? I don't find any support form on Adobe's site. There's just the hint to the support forum of the users. Thank you in advance for your help

Wolfgang

I have LR 6 just like you but when I open the Adobe CC update program it has my LR 6 listed as LR CC (I also have LR 5 which it lists as 5). When I click to open link in this update program my installed LR 6 opens. So I believe Adobe considers LR 6 the same as LR CC for updating purposes. Why I can't tell you but I definitely only have the perpetual license and not the CC license.

Thank you for your response, Dick. I just wonder why I had not got the request for the Software License Agréement of  the Installation for CC products up to now when I had used LR6 and I hope that this isn't caused by the reinstallation of my LAN and the new router as mentioned above. Therefore I just want to make sure that I don't get another CC variant by accepting the term´s and conditions - or  run into problems with my perpetual LR 6 program which is  legally bought and licensed. Though I use CaptureOne for converting my raws I  oftenly organize and label my files with LR. So it would be a disaster if I cannot access my catalogues anymore. I still have LR 5 and 4, too but you cannot open the LR6 catalogues with those older programs, of course.


Wolfgang

Did you deactivate LR 6 at any point in the past?
I know each time I've deactivated LR 6 and reactivated it again when I use it on my laptops (my wife and I use it on separate desktops and laptops) I needed to re-enter my serial #'s and agree to license terms.
BTW, I'm using Capture One & LR the same way you are.

Just today I got an email that my trial of LR is about to end in 5 days offering me to subscribe to the Cloud.  Again: This is WRONG, because I regularly BOUGHT and PAYED the perpetual License as an upgrade of my LR 4+5 version many weeks ago and had got the confirmation of the purchase and the serial number from the Adobe shop. There's no way that Adobe is entitled to change this into a rented CC version now. I have used it up to now correctly without any further request for accepting any CC license agreement after the first installation and activation was done. I have installed LR 6 standalone on my Desktop PC (win 7) and later installed it on the Bootcamp (win) partition of my Macbook pro, too. So I had the program activated on 2 machines as allowed and it worked on both of them without issues for some weeks.

However the other day, when I started LR6 on the Bootcamp partition while I was on a trip, a message popped up, asking if I want to use the program for the 30 days trial period or already have a serial number. This was wrong, too, because I had already installed and activated LR there as said. So I typed in the serial number again. Maybe this was a mistake but I had no other option except accepting the incorrect trial option. However,  after doing so I now got the information that the program is activated on more than 2 machines and that I have to deactivate it on one of them within 30 days - wrong again ! Nevertheless, after some days I deactivated it on the Bootcamp partition again. Nothing was changed on my Desktop machine and I had used LR on that PC as before until I faced the license agreement popup by yesterday. So there's a lot of confusion on Adobe's part and it's too bad that I see no option to contact their official support here as a non-pro user. If I accept the license agreement which expressly refers to the program as a rented application I guess I'm either back in the trial mode with the regular installation on my Desktop machine, now, too  - or trapped in the CC route. Anyway, I cannot start the program and access my catalogues anymore which is a real disaster. All further help is very much appreciated. If there's no solution but to jump on the CC train I seriously think of giving up LR and switch to CaptureOne completely.


Regards


Wolfgang

I would uninstall then re-install and see what happens. Before re-installing I would clear the registry of all LR 6 and CC references. I'm not certain where all references to the serial # are located, someone like E.J. may be able to give you all the locations. I think clearing the registry is key as well as any other location where Adobe stores license and serial # info. Trying to get help from Adobe these days by phone is impossible as they only allow calls from registered CC people all other people have been placed in a second class status where the only way you can communicate with Adobe is via chat. I've never gotten any help via chat as the people answering questions don't know anything other than the simplest most frequently asked questions so they hand you off to someone else in a continuous loop until you give up. 

Another thought is to deactivate the software and then reactivate. Deactivation is located under Help and is called Sign Out followed by (your email). If all you see is Sign In then some how you were signed out which might explain the problem you're having.

Thank you very much for your continuous help, Dick. Clearing the registry could be complicated and dangerous, I think. In any case I would have to find all the key entries by avoiding to touch any of the references pointing to PS and my other Adobe applications by mistake. As said, I cannot access the program without accepting the license request but of course, I could try to deinstall it via the software listing in my system. I'm a bit reluctant to do so based on my experience on my MacBook where I had got the wrong message of too many activations when I tried to register the existing licence again after the wrong information of a trial had shown up


That said, I just checked the Bootcamp partition of the MacBook being the second machine on which I had installed and activated LR 6 before. If I try to start LR there, the Adobe application window pops up requesting the ID for access to the trial period which offers me (another !) period of 30 days after the sign up. I have Parallels Desktop installed on my MacBook, too. So I originally could access LR directly via Bootcamp by starting the MacBook with Windows or via the Virtual Machine in Mac OS. Though it's the same machine and hardware, of course, this maybe had caused the wrong information that LR was installed on more than 2 computers. I don't know. Strange enough, as I tried to start LR via Parallels for the first time today, I still could access the program though the Adobe Application Window requesting the ID had shown up at the start and the "sign out" menu in LR was greyed out. But after a reboot I could not start the program anymore without signing in with my ID - no matter if I used  Bootcamp or the VM. Of course, I did not sign in for the trial.


Anyway, as mentioned in my last posting, I had signed out (deactivated) LR6 on my MacBook two weeks ago completely. That's why it is correct and logical, that I could not open LR on the MacBook anymore. But I still don't know why I get the licence agreement request for CC installations on my Desktop PC which has not been changed at all since the first and valid installation and activation of my perpetual licence and definitely has the one and only activation that's left by now.

I completely agree on your comment on Adobe's poor support. Nevertheless, in the meantime I posted the problem in their user forum, too. If there's no other solution or I don't want to deinstall and reinstall the program in order not to run the risk of getting another wrong message of too many activations,  I'm thinking of accepting the license agreement form and see what happens. If there's any continuous trouble I probably will switch to C1 completely.

Best regards

Wolfgang

Just to let you know that the problem obviously is solved. This morning I had a chat with Adobe. As mentioned by Dick they're pretty clueless and I was passed around to 4 agents without really addressing the problem. Evidently you're sitting in the backseat as a non-CC customer. I finally decided to accept the strange licence agreement which for the last couple of days had popped up every time I tried to start my perpetual LR 6 application. And voila`- I was back in the program immediately. Checking the "about" menu told me that it's LR 6.1 - so no change to CC as I was afraid of - based on the strange reading of the license agreement and the email I had received that was telling me that my trial period was about to expire. I don't know if Adobe has changed any settings of my registration in the background during the chat. But in fact the license agreement request expressly tells that this program is part of the CC and that it's rented not sold. That's misleading at best for customers who have purchased a perpetual licence and has been the reason for me not to accept it before and to start this thread,  the more as I never had got a request for the agreement after the first activation in May. Anyway I'm relieved for now and hope that there's no new issue after the next reboot of my PC.

Thank you again, Dick

Wolfgang

Glad you got the problem solved.

Adobe just makes it harder and harder and harder to continue to be a customer of theirs. If I could live without Photoshop I would in a heartbeat. The alternatives just aren't there (yet) from a functionality with everything I do standpoint. I can easily live without every other Adobe product including ACR but not yet Photoshop. If and when such a thing arrives, Adobe apps are gone from my life.

E.J. Peiker wrote:Adobe just makes it harder and harder and harder to continue to be a customer of theirs.  If I could live without Photoshop I would in a heartbeat.  The alternatives just aren't there (yet) from a functionality with everything I do standpoint.  I can easily live without every other Adobe product including ACR but not yet Photoshop.  If and when such a thing arrives, Adobe apps are gone from my life.

Plus 1

Wolfgang I just updated to LR 6.2 using the Adobe CC Update software on my computer, which is the only way that I know of to update LR without going to Adobe.com. I paid particular attention to the naming of my LR software, Adobe called my version of LR 6 perpetual licence, is listed as Lightroom cc (2015). So as I mentioned in a previous post Adobe is now calling both versions the CC.

So far, I can launch LR 6.1 on my Desktop PC as before without further requests after I had finally accepted their CC licence agreement. Therefore this problem obviously is solved. However, I have not yet risked to reactivate the program on the Bootcamp partition of my Macbook to date in order to avoid further confusion on Adobe's part resulting in new trouble. About a week ago, I got an email from Adobe reminding me again that my trial period was over and asking if I want to join the CC. Since my perpetual LR 6.1 licence is working flawlessly now and consequently doesn't indicate any trial, I simply ignored the message. A couple of days ago, I received another email from Adobe, asking if the licence problem is solved and telling that they had tried to call me but had not succeeded in getting me on the phone. No wonder, since the phone number they referred to in this email showed the area code of Denmark instead of Germany    Furthermore, they asked me to update the support case on my account. I was extremely surprised by this request since I had not opened any case there because I had not even found an address to contact the support team on Adobe's site  and even less a possibility to open a support case on my account. There's just the forum and the chat for support of the non-CC customers. Maybe they've seen this thread Anyway, suddenly the email pointed to a link on my account which obviously was hidden before and I posted there that the problem is solved. Nevertheless, the day before yesterday I got another email with the same request of updating the case..... So there's a lot of confusion on their part and that's why I have been reluctant to reactivate the program on the Macbook again. However, I will have to sign in LR 6.1 on that machine again, too, before my next trip starts two weeks from now at the latest. As said, LR runs via Bootcamp or VM on the Macbook. That's why I can only hope and pray that this installation (including my Desktop PC) will not mistakenly be seen as an activation "on more than 2 PCs"  by their server which suddenly happened on my last trip after LR had worked flawlessly on the Macbook, before, too. Definetly there will be just 2 activations by then - the first installation on the Desktop and the second one on the Macbook. Dick, I have not yet updated to LR 6.2 on my PC in consequence of all the problems, the more as I read about the trouble with the new version with regard to the download folder and other issues. For now I'm happy that I can work with LR 6.1 on my Desktop machine. Nevertheless, thank you for the clarification as for Adobe's present labelling of both LR applications.

Wolfgang