Hi,
I have a bit of a frustrating situation - I received a full copy of Photoshop Elements 9 (for Mac) with a printer 2 years ago, installed it and used it on and off without problem for a year or so. Brilliant.
Earlier this year, running out of disk space, I had a clean-up of my machine to free up some space and as part of that I uninstalled PSE9.
I now need to reinstall PSE9, but I've lost the serial number (was printed on a slip of paper with the software bundled with the printer). So, first attempt was to recover the installed app from the Mac "Time Machine" backup from before my cleanup. I was able to recover the PSE folder/app, but it wouldn't launch - I'm guessing there are some other system files I need or something (I'm primarily a PC user, and I suspect there are "Program Files" equivalents to consider)...
Anyway, with that not working, I tried reinstalling from the CD (hoping there may be a "repair installation" option of some kind - but there wasnt). So I went through the regsitration, through the adobe id login & halted once more at the serial key screen.
After several attempts to recover from backup, uninstall, install, reinstall, (throw mac out of window....!!!) I eventually logged into adobe.com, and found to my delight that my serial number for PSE9 was accessible in my account - excellent! So I joyfully entered that into the installation screen and .... NO!! "error: serial number is not valid for this product".
Frustrated at this point I contacted Adobe chat help, who (cutting another long 45 minute story short) advised that the serial number in my account was for a "beta" version of PSE9. ...even though the disc and original serial (decomposing in landfill somewhere now...!) I have is for a full version. I have used it as I said and it is definitely not "beta" or a trial!!!!
I noticed also that my account registration date was showing as 2nd November 2012 (i.e. that same day), despite me having originally registered with my original product installation almost 2 years prior on 12/12/2010 (I have the welcome "Your Adobe Membership" email in my GMail still).
So with hindsight now, I'm wondering if by trying to reinstall PSE yesterday and logging in with my adobe id, my account and/or my serial number from 2010 has been overwritten with a new account(?) and "temporary" serial number? That's all I can think of, and now I have no way of recovering my serial number! (bundled with the printer, the serial number came on a printed piece of paper, which 2 years on, I've lost)
This is quite a specific sequence of events, I realise, but has anybody else experienced this, and if so, is there any way I can recover my original serial number (without of course paying for another licence? Or putting my wellies on & digging through the local refuse tip!!).
Thanks to anyone who has read to here, and thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any advice!
Thanks,
Aaron.