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Author Topic: Photoshop on an external drive  (Read 3182 times)

John Camp

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Photoshop on an external drive
« on: January 13, 2006, 11:18:05 pm »

I've been using computers for a long time, but I'm not much interested in them, so there is basic stuff that I don't know...maybe you can help me.

Photoshop CS2 limits you to two installs. I have three Macs -- a G5 dual-processor tower at my office, a G5 IMac at home, and a G4 Powerbook for travel. Would it be possible to get one of the small, rugged external hard drives and install CS2 on that, and then move it from one computer to the next, so you wouldn't have to go through the de-authorize re-authorize thing? You couldn't use more than one computer at a time, which is Adobe's object in limiting installs...

Or would that process simply be too slow mechanically -- do you really need the program resident in the on-board drives? Or is there some kind of identification tag that allows Photoshop to only be used on a specific computer, regardless of drive?

I need Photoshop on the laptop for when I'm travelling, and at my office for heavy-duty work, but it would be convenient to also be able to access it from the IMac. I *could* use the laptop at home, but it's slow and the screen is too small and the keyboard is not as good as a full-size keyboard. It'd be nice if I could simply go back and forth with the drive from the laptop to the IMac....travelling with the hard drive isn't a problem because they're really pretty small and light, and if you're schlepping a 15-inch computer and all kinds of cameras and lenses, one small drive won't make much difference -- and you could use it to back up the photos you take.

But would it work with Photoshop?

JC
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lenzzzcap

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Photoshop on an external drive
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2006, 06:45:21 pm »

Quote
I've been using computers for a long time, but I'm not much interested in them, so there is basic stuff that I don't know...maybe you can help me.

Photoshop CS2 limits you to two installs. I have three Macs -- a G5 dual-processor tower at my office, a G5 IMac at home, and a G4 Powerbook for travel. Would it be possible to get one of the small, rugged external hard drives and install CS2 on that, and then move it from one computer to the next, so you wouldn't have to go through the de-authorize re-authorize thing? You couldn't use more than one computer at a time, which is Adobe's object in limiting installs...

Or would that process simply be too slow mechanically -- do you really need the program resident in the on-board drives? Or is there some kind of identification tag that allows Photoshop to only be used on a specific computer, regardless of drive?

I need Photoshop on the laptop for when I'm travelling, and at my office for heavy-duty work, but it would be convenient to also be able to access it from the IMac. I *could* use the laptop at home, but it's slow and the screen is too small and the keyboard is not as good as a full-size keyboard. It'd be nice if I could simply go back and forth with the drive from the laptop to the IMac....travelling with the hard drive isn't a problem because they're really pretty small and light, and if you're schlepping a 15-inch computer and all kinds of cameras and lenses, one small drive won't make much difference -- and you could use it to back up the photos you take.

But would it work with Photoshop?

JC
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lenzzzcap

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Photoshop on an external drive
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2006, 06:46:40 pm »

Quote
I've been using computers for a long time, but I'm not much interested in them, so there is basic stuff that I don't know...maybe you can help me.

Photoshop CS2 limits you to two installs. I have three Macs -- a G5 dual-processor tower at my office, a G5 IMac at home, and a G4 Powerbook for travel. Would it be possible to get one of the small, rugged external hard drives and install CS2 on that, and then move it from one computer to the next, so you wouldn't have to go through the de-authorize re-authorize thing? You couldn't use more than one computer at a time, which is Adobe's object in limiting installs...

Or would that process simply be too slow mechanically -- do you really need the program resident in the on-board drives? Or is there some kind of identification tag that allows Photoshop to only be used on a specific computer, regardless of drive?

I need Photoshop on the laptop for when I'm travelling, and at my office for heavy-duty work, but it would be convenient to also be able to access it from the IMac. I *could* use the laptop at home, but it's slow and the screen is too small and the keyboard is not as good as a full-size keyboard. It'd be nice if I could simply go back and forth with the drive from the laptop to the IMac....travelling with the hard drive isn't a problem because they're really pretty small and light, and if you're schlepping a 15-inch computer and all kinds of cameras and lenses, one small drive won't make much difference -- and you could use it to back up the photos you take.

But would it work with Photoshop?

JC
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lenzzzcap

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Photoshop on an external drive
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2006, 06:47:38 pm »

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This is just the way I do it
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macgyver

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Photoshop on an external drive
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2006, 07:11:57 pm »

I've done similar things like that.  Once, while taking an art class that used PS 5.5 I simply left CS on my iPod (hard drive) and plugged it in when I wished.
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