7 Replies Latest reply: Nov 23, 2014 4:25 PM by Dov Isaacs RSS

    Lost Serial number

    jordanvv Community Member

      Hi, I purchased Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 several years ago. I know it's probably not the latest, but I only use it occasionally - like now, I'd like to open a .pdf document from the doctor's office so I can fill out a patient form. I had a computer crash last week and had to reinstall everything. I found my installation CD, but setup asks for a serial number and apparently I never registered the product, so there is no email from Adobe. Nothing written on the CD. Hoping there is a way around this?

       

      Jordan

        • 1. Re: Lost Serial number
          Dov Isaacs Employee Hosts

          The good news is that if all you need to do is fill out a PDF form, downloading and installing the free “Adobe Reader” should let you do this if the PDF file is indeed a PDF form file.

           

          The bad news is that if you didn't register the “Adobe Acrobat” product back when you licensed it and installed it, there is nothing that Adobe or anyone else can do to somehow let you bypass the requirement to enter the serial number. One of the major reasons for registering your software is provide a mechanism by which Adobe can assist you either for retrieving a “lost” serial number and/or upgrading a product. If you don't take advantage of this, there isn't much we can do to assist you.

           

          However, your narrative also brings up the issue of system backup. If you did a full system backup on a regular basis, after a system crash, hardware or software-based, that may have corrupted your disk drive, you could have done a full system restore and would not have had to “reinstall everything.” System backups are not particularly expensive or time-consuming. Terabyte USB drives are now less than $100 per drive.

           

                    - Dov

          • 2. Re: Lost Serial number
            jordanvv Community Member

            I have the free Reader, but I thought this was just for reading, not editing .pdf documents. In any case, I tried editing. I downloaded and opened with Reader and I can't enter any text.

             

            So I paid for an installation product and kept the CD but I need  a serial number to use it...seems like a scam to me to force people like myself to buy the product when they don't follow all the fine print registration rules?

            • 3. Re: Lost Serial number
              jordanvv Community Member

              Okay - I figured out how to edit the .pdf form. Would still like to have access to the product I purchased though. I don't want to buy more back up capability right now and in any case, that is not a solution to my problem. Thanks though...

              • 4. Re: Lost Serial number
                Dov Isaacs Employee Hosts

                What scam are you referring to?

                 

                There is no “fine print” game being played here. How is Adobe supposed to know who you are and what serial number you had if you don't register the product? Would you have preferred that Adobe forced you to register the product before allowing its use (introducing delays before you could use the software) at all including verifying your true identity, e-mail address, phone number, etc.? That would probably have been the only means by which we could have guaranteed the ability to assist with this situation. Unless you purchased the software directly from Adobe's website as a download with a serial number, without registering the software, Adobe has no way of knowing that you are a legitimate license holder. Do you expect Adobe to simply hand out new serial numbers to anyone who simply claims to have licensed the software but refused to register it?

                 

                Realistically speaking, if you don't register software products, don't copy down the serial numbers and save them in a safe place, and don't regularly back up your system, you are personally taking big risks that software companies simply cannot and will not assume and that you need to take responsibility for.

                 

                As much as we would like to assist you, we regretfully cannot do anything for you at this point to retrieve your serial number.

                 

                          - Dov

                • 5. Re: Lost Serial number
                  Bill@VT CommunityMVP

                  As Doc Dov Isaacs mentioned, you could use a backup and reinstall the backup system. Maybe get another drive for temporary use and for regular use later, and install the older system on that drive. Once it is installed, you can open Acrobat and register it. (I am pretty sure you could still do that.) Then you can go to Adobe and get the serial number from that registration. There are other ways to get the S/N also, as long as the product is installed. Backups and registrations are general good practice.

                   

                  You also caused confusion with the original post by talking about Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0. There is no such product, only Acrobat and the separate Reader (that is free). If you have the CD as you indicated, then why not the S/N that is comes with the CD?

                  • 6. Re: Lost Serial number
                    jordanvv Community Member

                    Corporate bs

                    • 7. Re: Lost Serial number
                      Dov Isaacs Employee Hosts

                      Sorry you feel that way. Maybe a very small company who knows the names of all of its customers can work the way you think we can or should, but that is highly unrealistic for a large company with millions of customers.

                       

                      Bill and I endeavored to help you and explain the processes involved in good faith.

                       

                      This thread has served its purpose.

                       

                                - Dov