Difficulty Loading Adobe Photoshop Elements / Premiere Elements onto new PC - Any suggestions / recommended alternatives

[Stathern Jc]

I can't be the only person with a few loose ends after having to replace an old Windows 10 PC (actually an old Windows 8 PC with Windows 10 sitting on top).
Most things I used to be able to do are now up and running but sadly not my old versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 14 and Premiere Elements 14.

I kept the programme files as originally downloaded, and having copied them across find that they won't load onto a 64bit machine.
Logging onto Adobe.com/"etcetc" having a go at downloading a 64bit version, the link to an archive at "red.protexis.net" can't be connected to.
I have tried a couple of other sites claiming to link to the Elements 14 downloads, but they direct to Adobe for Photoshop 25 or 26.

No doubt these are very good. But, being a bit tight and only an occaisional user, I'm not enthused about signing up to an ongoing subscription which between the 2 applications will have cost more in 3 months than I paid to own both of the earlier versions which had still done all I need.

If anyone here has had similar problems with reloading this or other old versions, have you managed to fix it?
Or is it just hard luck and time to look elsewhere?


With photos it's mostly the usual editing which I see Microsoft Photos now seems to give reasonable scope for (not sure about adding captions etc?).
With videos, I'm looking to do some fairly simple stitching clips together and adding a still or two and some text when there's something different up here to post it on YouTube etc.
I haven't had chance yet to see what the pre-loaded Microsoft Clipchamp will do so don't know if that's the answer. I need to do some more exploring on one of these rainy afternoons.

Any advice / suggestions of other suitable options will be much appreciated.

Thanks
Ian

 

[sad1e]

Try GIMP. It's a pretty competent Photoshop replacement in my opinion, however it is more geared towards design than photography , although it's free so if you don't like it no loss taken

 

[davart]

Have you tried right mouse clicking the original installers and running them in 'Compatibility mode'?

Make older apps or programs compatible with the latest version of Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to get older apps or programs to run on Windows 10 or Windows 11 by adjusting compatibility settings.

support.microsoft.com

 

[SW Rover]

I had similar issues with my slide scanner software not working and even had to reinstall Windows 11 when it crashed on the new replacement PC. That was the first time I have ever had to reinstall the operating system!

Following this crash I have kept my old Win 10 PC with all the older software working but disconnected from the internet. The new Win 11 PC is used on the internet and to check for virus protection of new files before they are transferred to the old Win 10 PC. Both share the same monitor with the old using a VGA cable and the new a HDMI cable.

I don't know if Adobe Photoshop Elements needs to be connected to the internet but this 2 PC option could help.

 

[Harpers Tate]

I have the two APEs v14 running here on 2 x Windows 11 (both 64 bit) machines. I don't recall any difficulty in getting them to install.

 

[etr221]

Another (free) alternative to Adobe Photoshop Elements is Paint.net - go to https://www.getpaint.net/index.html for info and download link. Or, if your image editing requirements are limited, IrfanView, XnView and FastStone Image Viewer are three free 'Image Viewer' programmes (Google for them) which include editing capabilities, that you might find adequate. At the other extreme Canva now offer Affinity Studio (see https://www.affinity.studio/ ) for free (as long as you don't want AI).

For video editing (not something I do), the free offering I know of is DaVinci Resolve - but, although its free, I would only recommend for experts (or wannabe experts - it has a thousand page manual) - so I would Google 'Best Free Video Editor', look at the sites which list them and take your pick of the ones you like.

 

[ChrisT]

Try GIMP. It's a pretty competent Photoshop replacement in my opinion, however it is more geared towards design than photography , although it's free so if you don't like it no loss taken

Yes, I agree. I use it for editing my photos and find it perfectly satisfactory. And, as you say, it is free although I have have given a donation from time to time to assuage my guilt.

 

[tadzio]

Hey @Stathern Jc For photo editing, Photopea (photopea.com) is essentially Photoshop in a browser - free, no install, handles PSD files, and has most of the tools you'd need for basic edits and captions.

For video, DaVinci Resolve has a free version that's genuinely professional-grade. Bit of a learning curve but massively capable for stitching clips and adding text. Overkill for simple edits but it's free and won't suddenly disappear.


Clipchamp is decent for quick stuff but has some export limitations on the free tier - to be honest - try Photopea.

 

[KevinTurvey]

I had a similar issue. Tried to my reinstall my old CD Rom PS Elements version 11 on to a new Windows 11 PC. No go, complete system crash and had to reinstall windows. Apparently I think versions 11-15 do this. I found various web posts on this issue after the event. So if you have an old version of Photoshop my advice is check and be careful unless you are a PC expert.

 

[pharrc20]

I'm still using Photoshop CS2 on an old Win10 laptop and so will abandon my plan to try install CS2 on my newer Win11 laptop then. The fact I can't find the install disk for CS2 probably helps as I've filed it away somewhere sensible not! I just use CS2 to edit slides and negs I've been scanning for myself and a friend to at least make a decent image that is suitably tweaked to remove the usual spots and stuff that appear on slides especially. And I do blow the slides with a dedicated blower first and treat any badly affected slides with Zebra Clean film & negative cleaner (fluid).

I usually just change from an RGB image to a CYMK image, tweak the levels, crop/resize slightly and edit out any remaining stubborn spots. What current free software would allow me to continue doing that of the ones already mentioned in this thread? GIMP, Paint, IrfanView, XnView and FastStone Image, Viewer, Affinity Studio or Photopea?

The DaVinci Resolve sounds interesting for video as another long-term project I need to do is to digitise all of my old Hi-8 and Digi8 camcorder tapes either from the original tapes or the DVD copies I made some years ago.

Cheers Paul

 

[etr221]

I'm still using Photoshop CS2 on an old Win10 laptop and so will abandon my plan to try install CS2 on my newer Win11 laptop then. The fact I can't find the install disk for CS2 probably helps as I've filed it away somewhere sensible not! I just use CS2 to edit slides and negs I've been scanning for myself and a friend to at least make a decent image that is suitably tweaked to remove the usual spots and stuff that appear on slides especially. And I do blow the slides with a dedicated blower first and treat any badly affected slides with Zebra Clean film & negative cleaner (fluid).

I usually just change from an RGB image to a CYMK image, tweak the levels, crop/resize slightly and edit out any remaining stubborn spots. What current free software would allow me to continue doing that of the ones already mentioned in this thread? GIMP, Paint, IrfanView, XnView and FastStone Image, Viewer, Affinity Studio or Photopea?

The DaVinci Resolve sounds interesting for video as another long-term project I need to do is to digitise all of my old Hi-8 and Digi8 camcorder tapes either from the original tapes or the DVD copies I made some years ago.

Cheers Paul

I would suggest GIMP and Affinity Studio as the most capable software, that will match Photoshop (and are at the same level (if that's the way to put it) as DaVinci Resolve). But for the price (0) you can easily try them all.

And if anyone is after a free Lightroom equivalent, Darktable is the program to investigate.

 

[simple simon]

I assume that you have tried compatibility mode and when installing you are doing so as an administrator. Its a while since I did this but think the latter requires to you right click the installation file and select 'ran as administrator'.

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Maybe a solution is if you can get hold of Windows 2000 and run it as a virtual computer under Windows 11 (just do not allow it to access the web). Some versions of Windows 11 (intended for businesses) might allow this, otherwise you might need Oracle VirtualBox for this. Windows 2000 is the last Windows OS that did not need a web connection to authenticate it, but it is strictly a 32 bit OS. I use it with VirtualBox on a Linux host. Rather than buy Win 11 I am planning to use Linux Mint as my main OS for web access.

I have access to both Photoshop 5.5 and 7.0 - 5.5 is older but works well, even saving files to my network server whereas 7.0 cannot save files to large network drives (I think the limit is 2tb) which is a pain. It just says that the disk is full - when it isn't.

My Win 10 laptop cannot be upgraded to Win 11. So I've altered the networking settings (manual IP address and did not specify a gateway) so that it cannot see the Internet but can see my local area network, including the network fileserver. Perhaps this is the way to go with computers using older operating systems that still work well. Software as a service / paying for it on a monthly basis sounds horrific. Maybe because I am older and recall the early days of the Internet when things were done differently the mere concept sounds dystopian (for domestic users).

 

[Stathern Jc]

Thanks to all for suggestions.

This seems to be an autumn of technical obsolescence as the e-mail app on my mobile has been updated to a new version "suitable for Android Version 11 onwards".
Sods Law. My phone is on Android 10, and I still think of as "new" but had forgotten I've had it for 5 years. So the need to look at a replacement has distracted me from the Photoshop hiccup. I suspect that this will also have been the cause of much chuntering on my part earlier in the year, when after changing my car the much plugged "My Audi" App didn't want to load.

I'll have a closer look at the suggestions in a couple of weeks or so.
In the meantime I still have the Windows 10 PC able to run "offline".
Thanks again.
Ian

 

[etr221]

Thanks to all for suggestions.

This seems to be an autumn of technical obsolescence as the e-mail app on my mobile has been updated to a new version "suitable for Android Version 11 onwards".
Sods Law. My phone is on Android 10, and I still think of as "new" but had forgotten I've had it for 5 years. So the need to look at a replacement has distracted me from the Photoshop hiccup. I suspect that this will also have been the cause of much chuntering on my part earlier in the year, when after changing my car the much plugged "My Audi" App didn't want to load.

I'll have a closer look at the suggestions in a couple of weeks or so.
In the meantime I still have the Windows 10 PC able to run "offline".
Thanks again.
Ian

Windows 10 will still run ok. If you have - or can set up - an appropriate Microsoft account you should be able to register for extended support (until next autumn), and get updates 'as normal'.

 

[contrex]

Try GIMP. It's a pretty competent Photoshop replacement in my opinion, however it is more geared towards design than photography , although it's free so if you don't like it no loss taken

Many people find the Gimp interface annoyng or confusing (inclusing me!) so I was glad to find a patch for Gimp 3.0 and later, called 'PhotoGimp' which aims to 'transform GIMP’s interface by mimicking Photoshop’s layout, reorganizing tools, adjusting canvas settings, and reassigning keyboard shortcuts to match Adobe’s documentation'.

PhotoGIMP – GIMP Patch for Photoshop-Like UI

PhotoGIMP is a patch for GIMP 3.0+ that makes it look and feel like Adobe Photoshop with familiar tools, shortcuts, and UI layout. #PhotoGIMP

photogimp.com

I use it in conjunction with RAWtherapee, which is another freeware open-source progamme for 'developing' RAW files.