Issues with installing/opening After Effects 7.0 Pro

Good afternoon/evening. Can anyone assist me with getting my copy of After Effects (7.0 Pro) to run? When I try to start up the program, at first the screen turns gray/black, causing me to have to use Task Manager to close out. When I do this, I get the error message that:

"After Effects can't continue: sorry, After Effects has crashed. See /http:www.adobe.com/support/products/aftereffects.html for known issues. If you still can't resolve the issue, please contact Adobe Technical Support (2).

(0 :: 42)"

On the second attempt, I am prompted to type in my serial number (my name and organization is already/automatically entered) but when I hit ENTER, I am then told:

"After Effects error: your serial number is invalid.

(0 :: 3)"

I tried typing my serial number both with and without dashes after every 4th number (ie: XXXXXXXX and XXXX-XXXX-XXXX etc), and I've tried to both uninstall and repair the program but to no avail (I'm prompted to insert the disk while repairing, even though the disk is already in the drive, and seconds after starting to uninstall AE, I get the prompt "The wizard was interrupted before After Effects 7.0 could be completely installed (even though I'm trying to UNINSTALL). Your system has not been modified. To complete installation at another time, please run setup again." Since my product doesn't give me the option to speak to someone on the phone, I have to post on the forums. If anyone has experienced the same issue and knows how to resolve it, please help!

FYI: I have a HP Pavillion 2000, Windows 8. If additional pc specs are needed, let me know.