Howdy,
In a variant of the above I finally loaded my GC2:DL (bought commercially over the counter ages ago, never got around to playing), and well I figure I should try and patch it, preferably through ya'll since its your game.
Of course, I ran into the same sort of issues the original poster had (no way to register S/N, no way to patch). And well, my first attempt to design a ship ended with a game crash, so I figure I should really patch to get up to date (Windows 7 was not even a gleam in Microsoft's eye when I bought this). I may eventually go with the UE, but would like to actually play a bit of what I have first 
I guess the question is : If I use Gamestop/Impulse and register/patch there, does that mean I will never be able to register with Stardock when you get the new SDC up, or will the registration be valid for both ?
Thanks
Dale