PS CS5 Installation/Activation Queery

Question

First off - Sorry about the length of this post! - I also know I have not done things 'properly' and It's my fault, so I don't need to be told I'm an idiot!!
I did a quick search but came up with no definate answers to my question...
Here is a concise version of events:
Installed 32 bit CS5 on my 32 bit Windows 7 PC - Was running this for around 3 weeks without problems.
I then set up the PC to dual-boot 64 bit and 32 bit Windows 7 Using different physical Hard-Drives (32bit on drive 'C', 64bit on drive 'D').
Installed 64 bit CS5 on the new 64 bit Windows on the PC (Drive 'D')  - to check performance etc. - So at this stage I have two copies of PS CS5 installed, and I assume activated on the SAME PC.
After testing numerous pieces of software/drivers etc. in the new 64 bit environment I decided to re-format the old 32 bit Windows partition (my original 'C' drive that held the 32 bit version of Windows 7) WITHOUT deactivating that install of PS 32 bit CS5. (stupid thing No.1)
I then re-installed a new copy of Windows 7 64 bit on the newly formatted 'C' drive.
I then (again stupidly) Re-formatted the original 'test-bed' 64 bit Windows install on the 'D' drive, WITHOUT deactivating the 64bit PS CS5
I then Installed 64 bit CS5 (again) but this time on the new 64bit Windows 'C' drive
It appears to have been activated ok (I have the option to de-activate in the menu) so this makes 3 installation of PS CS5 (1 x 32bit & 2x64bit) on the SAME PC!
The real question is: does the Adobe activation system 'know' that all these installs are on the same hardware and thus I have only used up 1 activation, or have I managed to use up 2 because one of them is 32bit and the other 64bit?
I'm assuming I can't have used up 3 because the licence does not allow this.
I will be wanting to install on a new laptop sometime after January next year and I'm wondering if I'll be able to, without having to 'beg' to Adobe over the phone to reset them or whatever they do.
I can't see any way of managing or viewing these activation on the Adobe website (unlike the way you can with Capture One software)
Or will I be better off just phoning Adobe if I have a problem later?
Regards
Kevin

Answer 1

I am pretty new with CS5 (about 6 weeks) - installed, activated and have used till last week when my system died. After several trials, eventually I had to reinstall the OS without being able to deactivate CS5. I haven't reinstalled and reactivated CS5 yet (doing some more repairs/changes on my system).
Being aware of the existence of a certain limit of activations, I called Adobe Customer Support (am I the only one to do this ?) and asked them. Their answer was that if the reason of the activation without prior deactivation is "system failure", then the limit is five (5) times. On my insistence that what happens if my system dies 6 times, they said that it is unlikely (which depends on how much and how clumsily I tinker with my system, of course), they said that then the issue can be elevated. If I deactivate before removing CS5, then there is no limit - according to this representative. I have to note here that I have gotten several different answers from different Adobe Support personnel for identical questions before, so I am not sure how accurate this answer was. (May be that's why we ask each-other instead of Adobe?)
My understanding is that Microsoft doesn't impose limit on the number of operating system reinstallations - as long as the installation happens on the same machine (same microprocessor). Why can't Adobe do the same? And just a hypothetical question in case of a (very unlikely) sixth "system failure": what if I have a system image (with an activated CS5), and I restore that image just to deactivate CS5 before I do my system repair? (BTW, how "identical" should be the system in order to be able to restore the Win7 created system image - apart from the same mother board, processor and system disk?)
Even if I didn't contribute any new information to this issue, I appreciate the opportunity to went my frustration with Adobe (with excellent products but not so excellent support in some cases) - and I didn't even mentioned my first trial with instant messaging, when the Adobe representative diligently sent me the canned comments ("thank you for...", etc. from over the ocean) but even 10 minutes later still didn't understand my question.
Thanks,
Laci.