Incompatibilities
Activation of Adobe Photoshop® and Other Products Using FLEXnet Publisher® / SafeCast
Note: The issue described below does
not affect you if you use a non-cascade encryption algorithm (i.e., AES, Serpent, or Twofish).* The issue also does
not affect you if you do not use
system encryption (pre-boot authentication).
Acresso FLEXnet Publisher activation software, formerly Macrovision SafeCast, (used for activation of third-party software, such as Adobe Photoshop) writes data to the first drive track. If this happens when your system partition/drive is encrypted by VeraCrypt,
a portion of the VeraCrypt Boot Loader will be damaged and you will not be able to start Windows. In that case, please use your
VeraCrypt Rescue Disk to regain access to your system. There are two ways to do so:
-
You may keep the third-party software activated but you will need to boot your system from the VeraCrypt Rescue Disk CD/DVD
every time. Just insert your Rescue Disk into your CD/DVD drive and then enter your password in the Rescue Disk screen.
-
If you do not want to boot your system from the VeraCrypt Rescue Disk CD/DVD every time, you can restore the VeraCrypt Boot Loader on the system drive. To do so, in the Rescue Disk screen, select
Repair Options >
Restore VeraCrypt Boot Loader. However, note that this will deactivate the third-party software.
Possible permanent solution: decrypt the system partition/drive, and then re-encrypt it using a non-cascade encryption algorithm (i.e., AES, Serpent, or Twofish).*
Please note that this not a bug in VeraCrypt (the issue is caused by inappropriate design of the third-party activation software).
* The reason is that the VeraCrypt Boot Loader is smaller than the one used for cascades of ciphers and, therefore, there is enough space in the first drive track for a backup of the VeraCrypt
Boot Loader. Hence, whenever the VeraCrypt Boot Loader is damaged, its backup copy is run automatically instead.
See also:
Known Issues & Limitations, Troubleshooting
