Activation | Real World Adobe Creative Suite 2

When Adobe added activation requirements to Creative Suite to prevent software piracy, the user community was up in arms. Comments ranged from suspicions of conspiracy theories to dire implications for civil liberties to questions whether Big Brother government was about to take over all computers.

The good news is that after months of watching how activation works in the real world, there have been very few reports of major problems with activation. In case you still have doubts or questions about activation, here's what happens, and what it does and doesn't do.

Activating Creative Suite

When you first install Creative Suite, you have 30 days to activate your copy. Activation is an interactive (via Internet or phone) representation of the license agreement between Adobe and its customers, intended to help prevent unauthorized copying of the software. Adobe built in a grace period so that if you were stuck in a cave or on a fishing trawler, and had to install and activate Creative Suite without any Internet access or telephone, you would still be able to work with the Creative Suite applications. The easiest way to activate is to have an active Internet connection when you first install the software. At your prompt, the installer sends a message to the Adobe activation servers, and the servers send back an invisible OK file to your computer. From that moment on, you no longer need an active Internet connection just in case you need to go back to work in that cave.

So what if you don't have any Internet connection at all? In that case, you can use the 24-hour automated Adobe Software Activation System or speak directly with an Adobe Customer Care Representative. Here are the steps to activate Adobe Creative Suite:

During installation or the first time the software is launched, in the Activation dialog box that appears, do one of the following:

To activate Adobe Creative Suite over the Internet with an active Internet connection, click Activate to complete the activation.
To activate by phone or at a later time, click Activation Options.

If you clicked Activation Options, click Next in the Activation Information dialog box, and then select one of the following activation options:

Select Over The Internet, and then click Activate to complete the activation.
Select By Telephone Via The Automated Software Activation System, and then click Next. Call the phone number that appears onscreen to contact Adobe Customer Service. Enter the authorization code provided, and then click Activate.
Select Remind Me if you want to delay the activation. Choose a reminder option from the pop-up menu, and then click Next.

If you still need help activating the software, contact Adobe Customer Service.

Transferring Activation

If you replace or reformat the hard drive on your computer, you most likely will need to reactivate Creative Suite on that computer. If you buy a new computer, you will need to transfer the activation from the old computer to the new one. Fortunately, transferring activation is very simple. In fact, it will take us longer to write out how to transfer the activation than it will take you to do it electronically.

1.	Connect to the Internet from your computer.
2.	Quit all Adobe applications.
3.	Start any Creative Suite application.
4.	Choose Help > Transfer Activation.
5.	Follow the onscreen instructions.

Although Adobe calls this transferring activation, it actually is just deactivating the software on that computer. Once you have deactivated one Creative Suite application, you have deactivated them all. Deactivating allows you to activate Creative Suite on another computer.

Despite all assurances, people still have questions about activation. Here are some of the most common ones.

Does activation send any private information about my computer or my files to Adobe? No. Absolutely not!
What should I do if I forget to deactivate on one machine, and then it is sold? Contact Adobe Customer Service. They can easily straighten out the problem.
What happens if I have to reinstall the software on the same machine? Do I have to reactivate? Most likely not. The activation will still be on the machine.
What if I have my computer repaired? Should I deactivate the suite ahead of time? Sandee had a new motherboard installed. Just to be safe, she deactivated and then reactivated. Later on, she was told it wasn't necessary. Hard drives are different; you must deactivate the software if you have your hard drive replaced or reformatted.
What if I need to work at my client's office? Can I install and activate on his machine? Sure! Just make sure you don't have the software activated on your own two computers. And remember to deactivate when you leave the client's office.
What happens if I don't activate by the end of the thirty days? You will see a message that tells you that your trial period has expired and that you must activate the software. You will be given an opportunity to activate, but the software will no longer work.

Behind the Scenes: The Battle Against Piracy

While activation is a new and not necessarily well-received feature of Creative Suite 2, it is not a completely foreign concept to computer applications. Way back when we started using computers, software companies tried all sorts of ways to combat software piracy. Sandee remembers a game she had that required her, after every 10 or 15 minutes of play, to enter a word on a certain page of the documentation. The idea was that no one would pirate both the software and copy the printed manual.

Steve had many experiences none pleasant at various schools where he taught, of working with hardware dongles for QuarkXPress. Dongles are electronic key devices that must be attached to a port in order for certain software to launch. Unfortunately, the dongles for XPress were easily stolen, and could be lost or stepped on. Without the dongle, there was no way to run the software. And the companies that required the dongles were very reluctant to send replacements.

The current activation scheme for Creative Suite seems very benign. It doesn't require much time and is extremely flexible. Sandee has had no problems transferring activation off two of her machines, and then reactivating on two new ones.