I have the same problem.
If i install and run the game, play for a while and then quit the game myself, there's no problem starting it again later.
But if i play the game and it crashes (blue screen of death) i get the "bad serial number given in setup" message.
So it would seem that the crash corrupts the game.
os: xp
gfx card: GeForce GTX 260
game: bought retail (not downloaded)
lang: EU
patch: 1.02