Hi mr. "frigin furious"
If you truly have read all of those threads, I'm sure you already know...
1. Attempting to continue a save-game from a previous game-version will cause the game to "mini-dump" (crash).
2. Attempting to play replays from previous game-versions will also cause the game to "mini-dump" (crash).
3. Some MOD's seem to also be having an adverse affect on SINS (might be due to some MOD's still using older versions of files etc.)
...but just in-case in all of the reading you've done to solve your issue you missed those three points, I reiterated them here for you.

As far as the CD-key goes, make sure you're entering the "-" (dashes) and swapping O's for O's.....other than that please contact support@stardock.com
thanks,
the Monk