O.K.
I had a computer built with a fresh install of Windows 7 professional.
I own Creative Suite CS2 premium with an upgrade to CS3.
When I tried to install CS2 to then install the upgrade to CS3 the computer would not allow an activation of CS2.
I then reinstalled CS2 and did not activate it and then installed CS3 and did the activation for 3 and it took it. In the process I contacted Adobe for help (yea right) and they told me that Windows 7 would not recognize CS2, they also told me that I could not upgrade Photoshop to CS4 without upgrading the entire Suite although I have already purchased the upgrade and am waiting on its arrival. I don't have a need to upgrade anything except PhotoShop and don't understand why I should have to.
If anyone understands this and can help me to understand what it is that I need to do in order to get CS4 on my computer it would be greatly appreciated.

I have just installed CS4 on W7 Home Premium

I had started with PS6, then CS2 then CS4. (all legal - the latter two upgrades only)

The way to install PS is to install the latest version and then enter the licence number of the earlier version when it is requested.

Even though my CS2 was only an upgrade it was accepted as the product from which I was upgrading without question.

As far as the upgrade is concerned - that's Adobe for you!

Hope this helps

That is Adobe's crazy upgrade policy. I went from CS3 Extended to CS4 Standard, and the CS4 installation rejected my CS3 as not qualifying for upgrade. So I used my CS2 to qualify for the upgrade. It's really dumb.

Amazing. Almost makes one miss those times when all one had to do was make sure the lights were out when they exposed the correct side of the paper.

CS2 is probably not Windows 7 compatable. It wasnt even officially Vista compatible, although many got it to work with mixed results.

To upgrade, you do not need the previous version to be installed.
When you install the upgrade version it will ask for its serial number and the qualified old version serial number.

I installed CS4 on a new computer with Windows 7, as an upgrade from CS3. Works great.

I have CS2. Same problem. Adobe is a PIA. Their licensing program (over) enforcement treats everybody equally.... as software thieves. Their main mission is to bust your balls. My next, and last, upgrade will be Photoshop Elements 8 found on an Office Max shelf for $99. I know, proceeds still go to Adobe, but there is practically zero options elsewhere. IMO, unless you are a graphic designer PE8 or 7, or 6, or 5.... is all you will ever need.

Barry, there are other options. Two that I've got are ACDSee Pro and Bibble 4 Pro. I prefer ACDSee, but I upgraded from 2.5 to 3 and kind of wish I hadn't, because 2.5 offered more steps from dark to light for adjustments; I haven't used 3 enough yet to have really come to terms with it, but I still like it.

O.K. after Days of being on hold and talking to people in India who refuse to give me to a supervisor, I have now been told that I will have to buy the CS4 Creative Suite upgrade from CS2 for $749 and that my upgrade that I own to Photoshop CS3 (which is not the whole suite) was incorrect when it was sold to me. So basically what Adobe is saying to me is F*$k you, we don't care that you purchased CS3 and its my fault that I purchased the wrong one (even if it worked for 2 years) and now your gonna pay! The worst part is that I really believe that if I could actually talk to someone at Adobe instead of a phone room in India that I could actually get some help.
Oh well, at this point I have decided not to give Adobe any more of money!

pepperman wrote:...at this point I have decided not to give Adobe any more of money!

I'd almost say that's good advice, especially for anyone from the US, but a lot of the jobs here in the States are associated to varying degrees with foreign companies. I'd even go further and say not to give your money to any company that outsources jobs overseas, but that might conflict with the notion that just about all the cameras used by anyone on FM are made you know where (though that has little to do with outsourcing). I will say though that I am in thorough agreement with you about not doing business with companies that outsource their support to India. If there's one thing we share, it's the lack of proper support we've experienced when dealing with call centers there.

Long live Dugdeep.

Jan C.

I just upgraded my CS3 upgrade from CS2 to CS4. I was not even asked for my ID #. The whole upgrade download was automatic. I did have a lot of grief when I upgraded to CS3.

I have CS2 on Win7 Pro 64-bit. Runs great. It was an upgrade too. I did release my license prior to upgrading from XP. That might be part of the issue you have if you did not release your license. I'll probably update to CS5 when it comes out, but then again, I mainly use GIMP (do have several cool actions and a few plugins that won't run in GIMP that keeps me going to CS2 on more then an occasional basis).