CS2 and Superduper....incompatible?
 

I booted my source drive and installed CS2 (and activated it), then booted back to Sandbox as usual. When in Sandbox, the CS2 programs in Applications were not visible - so I went to my source volume in Finder and tried to launch from there and could not launch them. In the Read Me files of CS2 it does say that it is activated only for one computer (hard drive). Which evidently means a partition as well. Even if you format the drive you have it installed on, you have to transfer the activation.

So I guess this also means when I backup my source volume to my backup 2nd hard drive, that CS2 will not be usable on it either.....is there some kind of strategy to deal with this?

This is a problem with program that activate against drives, as opposed to Macs. And there's little we can do to fix it, unfortunately.

My suggestion: complain to Adobe about their overly restrictive and silly activation.

I will be calling Adobe tomorrow morning. If I go ahead and use Superduper anyway, can you see any other problems other than CS2 will not be usable on Sandbox or 2nd drive backup? And I guess this means that I won't be able to work from Sandox....

Also, in the manual, it says that if you want to copy Sandbox back over the Source, it will only work if Superduper created the Sandbox and the shared files. What exactly are the "shared" files in this situation.

Well, in your case you didn't update the Sandbox, which is why the CS2 applications weren't availbale -- the activation on the original drive should be retained and work. (It does for me.) So, please boot back to the original drive and update the Sandbox.

But -- a full copy won't keep the activation for obvious reasons: if it did, then it would be much of an activation! :)

The shared files are your shared applications and user files (depending on the script you used).

So are you saying that if I update my Sandbox from the source, that I might be able to use CS2 from the Sandbox? This situation seems impossible, because if I ever need to copy my Backup to my Source, then I'll be copying an unusable copy of CS2...or will the copy retain the activation when its put back on the Source...?

If I drag and drop some image files from Source to Backup, does that mean that Superduper did not create them?

Thank you soooo much for your help!!!

OK: a Sandbox is not a backup. So please don't be confused by that.

The restoration problem is a general issue with Activation. They'll allow you to reactivate if you call. It's frustrating, I know, but it's Adobe's issue, and they need to deal with it.

The point of the warning on the Sandbox is that you shouldn't "share" files yourself. Moving them around is fine, but just be aware that the "sharing" should be done by SD, and not manually.

I do understand that Sandbox is simply an operating system partition, used to test OS updates. I did not put any Applications in my Sandbox. I have installed other programs on my source volumes since I've had Sandbox, and have not updated Sandbox and those programs do appear in applications in Sandbox and launch from the Dock icons...this is what was confusing me.

I'm doing as you suggested and working in Sandbox all the time, so I am concerned that I won't be able to use CS2 while booted from Sandbox.

After installing CS2 on my Source HD, and then finding that it did not work from Sandbox, (before the lightbulb in my mind went on), I uninstalled it according to the instructions, but there are still some files left - so I thought I could use my HD Backup to copy over the source and that would remove all the leftover files...that should work - right..?

Right: it's because you didn't update the Sandbox after updating the main volume. If you install CS2 and activate it on your main volume, then update the Sandbox, they'll run from the Sandbox.

Wow - thanks - that will be wonderful!

After uninstalling CS2 from my main drive, will coping my backup to the main drive remove all the leftover files so I can reinstall it...?

Don't do that: just reinstall it, rather than restoring.

I was going to restore because in Read Me it said that if you have leftover files from an installation that it may not reinstall properly...

In the Superduper Manual, I understand that you should be booted from the main drive to install Apps on it - am I understanding that correctly...

Thanks again - for so much help

I'd give it a try anyway, actually. And,yes, definitely boot from the main drive!

I will give it a try - is there a specific reason why you would not recommend restoring the main drive from backup...? If the reinstallation does not work, that may be what I have to do...

Mostly that you might have done work, of course -- in general, I don't think you should perform a restore, regardless of application, if you don't really need to.

Hi Dave - It looks like my CS2 reinstall was successful and after I take a needed break, I will smartupdate my Sandbox after which I will have to update it as well.

I am just wondering - when I need to update applications installed on the main HD, or istall plugins or presets...do I need to boot from the main HD and do it or can I just select the main HD in the finder while in Sandbox and do it that way.

If I have to boot from the main HD to do the above, do I then have to update the Sandbox...?