Having discovered a long lost copy of starcraft and its expansion i was, understadably overjoyed. My high spirits fell to dismay however when , during installation i rememmbered a CD key was required... Alas for I have lost my copy of the manual. Is there a ligitimate way i can get this game to work or will i be forced to consider illegally cracking the game (that i have already paid for by the way). I dont want to go to the lengths of trying to crack the game open (not to mention i havent done it before and would prefer to not break the law) but, goddamn it! i already paid for it and i wanna play it!!!!
*stamps foot in frustration*
Any help would be fantastic :)

I don't wanna go illegal (I hate getting banned, being one of the first beta users and all), but I think you can purchase the CD key only from sites, for around $12 or something.

Hmmmm. I dont want to give my money to those dodgey sites. and besides I have already paid for the game. theres got to be a legitimate way to do it surely... (is that expecting too much rationality from games publishers?)

Call Blizzard support. They're usually very nice and they'll try their damndest to help you out.

Pffft... pussies.
You paid for it already. Just crack it and keep your mouth shut. How you go about it however, is none of my business.

I think there was something that worked. All you had to do was putting the same number. For example 0000-000-000-000 for the key but don't remember which one.

If you use an online serial key list or something of the sort, you will likely collide with other people using that key. Unfortunately, a unique CD key is required to connect the original starcraft to the battle.net servers, and so any collisions will result in periods of time where you will be unable to play online.
If I recall correctly, there are utilities which you can use to retrieve the key if you have a computer with the original installation of starcraft on it. Otherwise, dealing with support is probably your best route to reliable online play, though they may require some sort of unique identifying information for your copy of the game (UPC code or the like.)

Tit?
No no, I know what you mean... but that's illegal.

Do you own the physical media?? if yes, then it's not illegal..in my eyes....but of course the law says different .....

Obviously he was refering to Tut... As in KING Tut. Show some respect you heretic!!!
Wait... was King Tut religious or some shit?

GAH! well i checked in with Blizzard support and WONDER BEYOND WONDER there is no legal way for me to get this game to work.
Well done Blizzard.

Wait for a GOG release. It'll take some... years, but it'll be surely a good choice.
Maybe.

Well, if you want the online content, you are pretty much screwed unless you pick up a new copy at a bargain bin somewhere or on Ebay. But if you were just after the singleplayer stuff, you can do what I always do with singleplayer games.
Buy the game, stick it on a shelf and then pirate it. Avoids pesky DRM issues and also prevents the loss of the physical media. The game dev gets their due, and I get my game in a non-polluted form. Not that Starcraft had much DRM besides the key, of course.
Just google a Starcraft Keygenerator and use it. You've paid for the game, and you're bloody entitled to play it.

I have one of those, works with Battle.net (shh). But I'm not sharing it, for fear of you know what.