So I bought Anno 1404 about 3 months ago. Installed it then, played it a bit, and it eventually fell out of favor with me in lieu of other games. Today, I decided to give it another shot.
I searched and searched, and eventually found the DVD...broken in half. >< I had re situated my desk, and apparently dragged it OVER the DVD! I was in a bind. So, I downloaded a torrent of it (I still have my CD key) and installed it. I then ran gu.exe and installed two updates, getting it to 1.2. After 1.1 installed, the serial window popped up, and before I could put my key in, it went away. After 1.2 installed, I clicked on Anno.exe, and it loaded...and never asked me for my CD key >.> I don't have a modded .exe (as far as I know; I didn't use the one in the 'crack' folder on the .iso I got). I've restarted my computer, all that jazz, and still nothing.
Now I know what you're thinking. Cool, right? Not quite. If I can't register the serial, I can't make an online profile and register the game, etc. I'd really rather not have to buy another disc just to register (in which case I'd end up with two serials). Very annoying.