Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

I only used it to do occasional stuff to my photos that simple photo editors cannot do.

I'm aware I'm not properly answering your question here but it sounds like you might be better off ditching Adobe and using something like GIMP or Krita. I went through a period when I was struggling with my cracked version of photoshop and not getting anything done and discovered it was much more efficient and relaxing to spend a couple of hours learning GIMP.

If you'd rather use photoshop that's fair enough but I thought I'd just share my experience and offer a nudge in a different direction :)

If it makes you feel better they're super shitty to their paying customers too.

How to cut off PS online verification: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenP/comments/1624ybw/how_to_fix_photoshop_we_cant_verify_your/

But the tool they recommend using, GenP, does trigger Windows Defender warnings because it modifies binaries, so read the installation instructions carefully.

Or migrate to FOSS software, or pay Adobe to use their product.

I had the same issue just last week with a more recent copy of premiere I got. Just block all internet access in your firewall to Photoshop and it will go away.

It's been a cat and mouse game with Adobe for quite a while now

Yep, Adobe software still phones home even when it's cracked. But there's supposedly a list of hosts you can block to stop this behaviour: https://a.dove.isdumb.one/list.txt

Adobe uses an exe file of Node.js to do the verification. It is situated in the Adobe installation directory. Block all outbound connections from this exe.

Check out Paint.net. Free and there are a lot of plugins to extend functionality.

Fuck Adobe.

Photopea.com, PS in the browser.

Same if you have an old licensed copy, like cs6 keep that stuff offline, regardless of whether or not you purchased it