Parallels permanently modifying software licences of CS2 and 3dsmax 8??

I just installed 3186 against my Bootcamp 1.1.2 partition with much excitement - until I tried to fire up 3dsmax and Photoshop and found neither would work anymore. Other software seems to be just fine.

Ive uninstalled / reinstalled both software now - from Bootcamp and Parallels - and still get the same error messages from both about licences no longer being usable. Now I cant get them to run even from BC as they once did...

also - I cannot see my XP volume from OSX, and visa versa as I used to... (using MacDrive)

Is this an unheard-of problem? I couldnt seem to find much on it online.

 

Parallels is installing drivers (probably network driver with virtual MAC address) and some licensing schemes are locked to those MAC addresses. Most likely you will need to call the software vendor, explain what's happened, and have them reactivate the license. Also, the license "may" (I don't know) prohibit using it both natively and installed on a virtual machine.

 

You have probably run afoul of the software activation in CS2 and 3DSMax. If you install, activate, and run them under Boot Camp, then subsequently attempt to run them inside Parallels, these softwares will detect the computer hardware has changed (as Parallels present a different set of hardware to the software) and they will demand reactivation.

Now, I believe you will have to either run them from Boot Camp OR Parallels, but NOT both. If you attempt to do so you will have this activation/reactivation problem and there is no way out of this for now. In fact, if you are running any software that has software activation, you will probably also have this problem.

For your present situation, you may have to uninstall and deactivate your software (in the case of CS2) and then ask Adobe and the other company for an activation code that will let you run the softwares again. You may also need to reinstall Windows first.

Which is why I personally avoid all softwares with these kinds of software activation as far as possible. I am using a Corporate version of Windows XP, which does not have activation. And I will not upgrade to Windows Vista as there is no way to avoid the activation.

 

I spoke to Adobe.. if you have CS2 install it in Boot Camp and authorize it... When you switch between Parallels (BC) and Boot Camp you'll be prompted to reauthorize. This is a "repair" authorization and only takes a few seconds and you can do it as many times as you like.

 

*sigh. We'll meet again Parallels, someday...

0407 *As a Reference to future would-be googlers of similar issues.

Wow - Great responses from everybody. thanks for that. I really appreciate the collective intelligence of the users in this forum - certainly not all forums are equal... This community seems very well informed about deep shadowy Mac innerworkings. In hindsight, I was maybe over my head in attempting this for now...

Ok, so heres the update and situation: I have since began uninstalling Parallels, sadly from my new MBP. I will be graduating shortly and cannot afford the time troubleshooting it for now. However - It was epic while it lasted... 8 hours of digital glory.

And your likely right. I have no way of knowing about the software because Ive already started uninstalling/reinstalling them... However, this is resulting in more problems..

@ James Bond 007: What your saying makes perfect sense, and in fact your prediction came true, and soon enough all of my 'activation' software went south and stopped working. Working in Parallels full-time is appealing only in that I can use my newfound awesomeness of OSX! Sadly though, even with a MPB, what I do demands every available resource, as well as... well, working. Hope they can play nice together in the future...

Wish I could too. Sounds like nice place. As for Corporate version of XP, I hadn't ever heard that before. Ive always used Professional, but maybe next time Ill have to take your advice and try out Corporate at that happy place of yours. And indeed. Vista is very scary to me as well. 10 foot stick. with a dagger

'Spoke to Adobe.' Nice. Unfortunately... Ive already uninstalled my entire CS2 Suite in an attempt to get back on the wagon. Good for Adobe though. Ill remember that for a future attempt...

Thanks to all on the "recovery of Parallels advice", but now its round 2, and Im losing. James Bond was right, and Ill likely end up reformatting my Windows drive and reinstalling... Shitty timing. And too bad - it was sooo sexy. My happy place. OSX driver control over trackpad alone made it 10X better than Bootcamp at this time (0407 for the google record). I recorded a phone video for my fond memories. - But I agree with posts from this threadhttp://forum.parallels.com/thread140.html: Uninstalling it IS a nightmare. Ive still got Parallels crawling on my XP partition. I cant seem to get rid of it. Apparently I was supposed to be inside of Parallels when I uninstalled from XP. Who knew. So now its living in my registry and Im having to reinstall everything (mostly with limited success). In OSX I used AppZapper and its seemed to be much easier than some of the earlier posts for removal... Digital dentistry. Scary.Drag and drop is much friendlier and should exist commonplace. Duh.

Is there ANY safe/good way to remove Parallels from my XP? Reformatting is an option, but also a last resort if at all possible for now. Add/Remove says to remove it via the Virtual Machine, buuut thats already been removed... Right. Obviously an issue there.

Thanks again for the great support and involved user base. You guys are wicked smart about this stuff. And thats good.

UPDATE: Apparently I just had my first Kernel crash after the hard disk in BC XP went to sleep and I couldn't wake it. No response from anything and was forced to hard reboot. So icky. I want Parallels gone from everything. Bad idea maybe as a 1st time Mac User, given the seemingly intricate removal process of this forum: http://forum.parallels.com/thread140.html

*sigh. We'll meet again Parallels, someday...