2. It asks for the CD key
3. You go to your list of MSDN keys and enter the key for Visual Studio .NET
4. It accepts the key and installs the program
5. You download and install the 300 megabyte service pack
6. You start the program and get the following dialog box:
Please enter a valid product key to use this product - setup has detected that the product key is missing or invalid.
You will find this 25-character key on your Certificate of Authenticity or the yellow sticker on the back of the CD case.
Then you got TechNet and find the following:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/818532
It turns up the installer for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 will accept a key for Visual Studio .NET 2002 without giving any error (which is what I entered from my list of MSDN keys which didn't specify whether the key was for 2002 or 2003). The only recourse is to uninstall everything and reinstall.
Brilliant.
