Error -51

Please help! I am desperate.. I purchased the Football Manager 2009 from Steam and after trying to install it for almost 15 times, it always says "Error -52" which also says my product key is not valid. However, i also tried following the steps that were given by the Sports Interactive forum page to fix the Error -51 and -52 problem by installing an application (Launher.exe). After i copy and pasted my product key and waited for it to be activated, it still says "your product key is not valid" or "Error -51."

Anybody can help?

According to the Known Issues and Solutions FAQ, you need to do the following to address an Error -52:

Error: You are receiving the Error [-51] / [-52] message

Fix: You need to delete the certificates and re-activate the game

1) On receiving the error, please uninstall the game

2) Please navigate to the following directory:

XP users: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate

Vista users: C:\Program Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate

3) Please ensure that it is the \certificate directory you are located in

4) Delete all content

5) Reboot the machine

6) Re-run the installation program and retry activation - ensuring you have 'verified' your key using the following website: http://keylookup.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/

7) You should now be activated

Note: If the above does not fix it – please check the following:

* C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data is not set to read only.

* Also check that C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate are not set to read only!

To check if a file or folder is read only, please right click the folder and select ‘Properties’ from the dropdown, you should the see a box at the bottom called Attributes – please ensure this is unticked or does not have a green square inside.

* Another way it could happen is if there is another instance of FM.exe or Activator.exe holding onto our certificate. In this case - the user should check the process list to see if another instance of FM.exe is open. If so - close it first.

To do this you need to open Task Manager (right click TaskBar, or CTRL+ALT+DEL), sort the Image Name column by clicking on it and identifying if Activator.exe or FM.exe are running. If they are highlight and click ‘End Task’

Try going through all the above steps and see if they help fix your problem. All the best!