FIX: Adobe software you are using is not genuine
- Adobe Genuine Software Integrity service sometimes blocks your access to the Adobe apps with pop-up messages.
- The solution to blocking Adobe Genuine Software Integrity service is to remove its instances.
- AdobeGCIClient is one such instance that you can remove via Task Manger.
- AAMUpdater is another instance, that can be deleted via CMD.
The Adobe Suite is one of the most complete editing packages for video/photo that you can use. It delivers a lot of features in multiple apps and they are all very intuitive and user-friendly.
In the latest releases, Adobe started to implement the Adobe Genuine Software Integrity more aggressively. This is meant to discourage piracy and keep better track of genuine users.
But recently, more and more Windows 10 users reported this message: The Adobe software you are using is not genuine.
What’s more, it seems the message appears on the screen even though they have bought legitimate copies of Adobe products.
This issue applies to Windows and Mac alike, and today we’ll take a look at viable solutions for all the Windows 10 users out there.
How do I avoid the Adobe not genuine message?
1. Get your own Adobe product key at a special price
For those of you who don’t have an official Adobe product or product suite, we recommend downloading the latest version from the official product’s webpage and install it before starting making any changes to your PC.
Here’s the list of Adobe products and the links to their official pages:
Adobe Product Name | Download link (clickable) |
---|---|
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe After Effects | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Dreamweaver | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe InCopy | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Animate | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Audition | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Bridge | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Captivate | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Creative Cloud | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Illustrator | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe InDesign | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Lightroom | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Photoshop | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Premiere Pro | Official Webpage Link |
Adobe Spark | Official Webpage Link |
2. Disable Adobe Genuine Software Integrity service
The most successful fix among users is to delete and remove all instances of the software responsible for the pop-up message, which is Adobe Genuine Software Integrity.
Remove via Task Manager
- Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to open Task Manager.
- Find the Adobe Genuine Integrity service in the Processes tab, right-click it, and choose Open File Location. It should open a folder named AdobeGCIClient.
- Go back to Task Manager, click on the Adobe Genuine Integrity process, and then hit End Task.
- Delete the AdobeGCIClient folder opened at step 2.
- Restart your computer and check if the problem is gone.
If the issue still exists and after the folder was re-created, instead of deleting it try to rename it to something similar.
Alternatively, you can do the same thing but in a more advanced way that guarantees the complete removal of the Adobe Genuine Software:
- To delete the service, type cmd in the Windows search box, right-click the result, and select Run as administrator.
- Then, in cmd, type sc delete AGSService and hit Enter.
3. Remove Adobe Updater Startup Utility
To delete the service, type cmd in the Windows search box, right-click the result, and select Run as administrator.
- Then, in cmd, type sc delete AAMUpdater and hit Enter.
- To remove the task, type Task Scheduler in the Windows search box and hit enter.
- Now find and delete the AdobeAAMUpdater task.
If you followed the steps correctly, the Adobe software you are using is not genuine pop-up message on Windows 10 should now be gone and you should be able to continue your work without any interruptions.
For any other questions or another fix to the problem, just reach for the comments section below and we’ll be sure to take a look.
Leave a comment below!
3 comments
Follow us on:
Let's keep in touch!
i FOLLOWED THESE INSTRUCTIONS WHEN PUBLISHED AND EVERYTHING WAS GREAT. NOW I’m GETTING THE “NOT GENUINE” ERROR WHEN RUNNING aCROBAT PRO X. I’ve LOOKED AND THE SERVICE YOU MENTIONED IS NOT INSTALLED. SO…WHERE COULD THIS BE COMING FROM?
Thank you for this, I paid out a small fortune on my Adobe product and to have this was quite threatening as I need it for my work. After deleting the folder so far it appears to have worked. Fingers crossed.
Thank you so much for this! It totally fixed the problem!