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Photoshop CS2


Astie

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I edited the MSI by using Orca. All I did was remove that one line called CA_ActivationCheckLicense from the CustomAction section as you suggested we do, and resaved the file.

Interestingly enough, I get the same result with mrmb's posted MSI. It could be a problem with my setup though. I'm testing in Virtual PC 2004 (w/o SP1). It's NOT a clean install. I've had Photoshop CS installed previously and recently uninstalled it to see if I can get Photoshop CS2 to install silently. Stay tuned for more meaningful results.

Also, when I open up mrmb's MSI, I noticed that he did NOT remove CA_ActivationCheckLicense, which makes me more curious as to what changes he made, if in fact his MSI works on others' systems.

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Sorry but I can't really help you on that because I don't use Orca.

I noticed that he did NOT remove CA_ActivationCheckLicense, which makes me more curious as to what changes he made

He removed that for sure, because that is the custom action that triggers the activation window. Well, there are other possible ways to disable that. Maybe he didn't remove the action, but he changed the condition so it will not be called. Or maybe he didn't remove it from the table, but he removed it in the execute sequence.

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Sorry but I can't really help you on that because I don't use Orca.
I noticed that he did NOT remove CA_ActivationCheckLicense, which makes me more curious as to what changes he made

He removed that for sure, because that is the custom action that triggers the activation window. Well, there are other possible ways to disable that. Maybe he didn't remove the action, but he changed the condition so it will not be called. Or maybe he didn't remove it from the table, but he removed it in the execute sequence.

I have zero experience with editing MSI's, so got no clue what he did. I've been messing with Orca a total of about 2 hours. As an added note, I tried using /qr when installing, and I got further than before. At least the install started this time. Instead though, I end up with it asking me if I want to open the readme file, and then upon trying to launch Photoshop, it says the serial number provided isn't valid (or something to that effect), which is probably normal since I never provided one in the Abcpy.ini file. No sign of any activation wizard yet either.

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This is what I did.

First, I entered my license number in the INI file, then ran this command.

start /w "Adobe Photoshop CS2.msi" transforms="Adobe Photoshop CS2.mst" /qb!-

I didn't run all the other msi's because I'm only concerned about the activation window. Luckily, it didn't show up because of the transform file. But I have to do a test again, on a clean system.

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I attached the MST again. I tried it on my current system twice without any problem.

orustom, instead of editing the msi directly, try using the mst. I'm not familiar with Orca, but if you remove the custom action, you have to remove it to the sequence also. And should not delete it from the binary table. (If I'm not mistaken, it's under binary24) That's probably why you're getting an error.

The target of CA_ActivationCheckLicense is CallALMCheckLicense. That is the activation window. The custom action CA_ActivationCheckProductActivationStatus is also under binary24, that's why I thought you have to remove it also.

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I noticed that he did NOT remove CA_ActivationCheckLicense, which makes me more curious as to what changes he made
I download his msi so I can give you a good answer to you question. :)
Report of differences between original installation:

C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Desktop\Adobe Photoshop CS2.msi  <---- This is my untouched retail msi

And updated installation:

C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Desktop\adobe photoshop cs2 (modified).msi <---- This is his modified msi

Table Property, changed record:

From UNITYSELECTION | RETAIL    --- this doesn't

    To UNITYSELECTION | TRYOUT  --- really matter

Table InstallExecuteSequence, deleted record CA_ActivationCheckLicense.  <---- This is the only modification he made.

In short, we are going on the same direction. He also removed the custom action like what I did.

I hope this answers your question. :)

Wait, if you already have his modified msi, why do you have to make a new one?

mrmb, I think you should compress your msi (with winrar) to save bandwidth.

Uncompressed - 4.85 MB (5,091,328 bytes)

Compressed - 1.09 MB (1,145,971 bytes)

:)

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I noticed that he did NOT remove CA_ActivationCheckLicense, which makes me more curious as to what changes he made

I download his msi so I can give you a good answer to you question. :)

Report of differences between original installation:

C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Desktop\Adobe Photoshop CS2.msi  <---- This is my untouched retail msi

And updated installation:

C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Desktop\adobe photoshop cs2 (modified).msi <---- This is his modified msi

Table Property, changed record:

From UNITYSELECTION | RETAIL     --- this doesn't

    To UNITYSELECTION | TRYOUT   --- really matter

Table InstallExecuteSequence, deleted record CA_ActivationCheckLicense.  <---- This is the only modification he made.

In short, we are going on the same direction. He also removed the custom action like what I did.

I hope this answers your question. :)

Wait, if you already have his modified msi, why do you have to make a new one?

mrmb, I think you should compress your msi (with winrar) to save bandwidth.

Uncompressed - 4.85 MB (5,091,328 bytes)

Compressed - 1.09 MB (1,145,971 bytes)

:)

wow you guys rock. i havvent replayd in this topic because i got banned without a reason.

ive tried your solution with Wise Package Studio, and search the msi script for CA_ActivationCheckLicense. I've removed that line (in total 3 in a row) and then run the installation (setup.exe /v/qb!). It really went sillently and i want to thank you all for helping me and many others with this problem.

greetz Astie

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@ totoymola: I tried using your MST file on a clean install using the original unmodified MSI file, and it works perfectly - no activation window! :thumbup

Of course the activation window DOES come up when I first start Photoshop after it's installed. The registration window also comes up the first time it's started. Any idea how to get rid of both of these? That would be the next step. My guess is its some form of registry edit.... ;)

Edit: OK, so I used Regshot to take a snapshot of the registry before and after doing the activation, and I saved the differences in a .reg file. Now to try it out from scratch on a clean install. Stay tuned! :whistle:

Edit 2: Well, for whatever reason the registry edit didn't work. The .reg file I made was refusing to integrate into the registry using a simple double-click, so I had to cut back one key at a time until I determined that the keys that could not be updated were all in the following branch:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_ADOBE_LM_SERVICE]

So using a .reg file that was missing that branch did not disable activation.

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