Postal 3 Not Starting; Says my key is corrupted

[FullerxspectruM]

I bought the game on Christmas day, but when I last tried to play the game, it tells me I have to activate the game again.
When I press automatic activation, its says my key is corrupted. This seems like a very odd choice of words for an activation software.
When I press manual activation, nothing happens.

I'll either post or attach screenshots later, I'm going to try reinstalling the game for the 12th time.

[SlimDurst]

oh the wonders of steam... 

[Toploader]

Not Steams fault, it's the stupid DRM Akella used for activation that's causing this guy, and others problems. We are trying to contact the company responsible for this DRM for solutions.

[SlimDurst]

oh,just got steam key and installed yesterday,had to use a million graphics tweaks to get a decent framerate but it plays fine for me

[FullerxspectruM]

Not Steams fault, it's the stupid DRM Akella used for activation that's causing this guy, and others problems. We are trying to contact the company responsible for this DRM for solutions.

I could tell it wasn't Steam. I'm sorry I never came back, but I had some personal matters to attend to. I'm glad you understood what I meant though.

[Toploader]

Don't suppose it's managed to work itself out has it?

[FullerxspectruM]

No, still the same error.

"Unable to run the application due to integrity fault of the Activation Key. Re-enter a valid Activation Key or re-activate the application.
If the error recurs, press "Error report" and send the report to product technical support."



EDIT: Okay, I've fixed it. I had to delete the serial and hardware keys from the registry.

[Toploader]

Thank you so much for reporting back on how you fixed it, this will be a big help to many.

[xroft.ru]

To solve this problem in russian version you must delete section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Akella Games\

So, registry path for english version is different?

Also this problem may caused by previously installed cracked version with cracked starforce drivers and generated keys with keygen. Delete registry section and buy legit game :-)

[Toploader]

Thanks all, I've been getting asked about this a lot, so it's great to have a solution.