Problems with Sony Support

I ordered my new Sony Vaio Laptop with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 preinstalled.  The whole point of getting the new laptop was to be able to edit HD Video.  Naturally I have questions about the software.  But Adobe doesn't want to talk to me until I give them the serial number for Premiere.  That is reasonable and usually you have the serial number on the package the software disks come in as well as in the Help / about screen.  My problem is that since this is bundled software there is no packaging and no disks and no product key on the About// Help screen.  The Sony website says to find the serial number on the Start menu, but it isn't there on my computer.  So I figure I'll try email support after telephone and web support can't find the serial number.

Here is the reply I get:

Jay

Thank you for the detailed technical questions. The issue you describe requires more extensive troubleshooting and communication than can be effectively handled via e-mail. Please contact our telephone support staff who will be happy to provide further diagnosis and assistance at: (888) 476-6972 or (239) 768-7669 Intl.

Thank you for choosing Sony.

The Sony Email Response Team
C6H6
David


This message and any attachments are solely for the use of intended recipients and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you received this email in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this email and any attachment is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error please contact the sender and delete the message and any attachments associated therewith from your computer. Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated.

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
I have two issues.

1.I ordered the computer with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.  In order to talk with Adobe I need to know the serial number.  On the web site it says that I  should be able to find it on the start menu, but it is not there on my Sony.

2. I have a Sony HDR-HC9 hd camcorder.  I can capture video from that camcorder to my computer in two ways: I can use the sony capture utility that comes with the computer which captures the HD Video files as .m2t files; or I can capture the HD files using Premiere which captures them as .mpeg files.  Is one capture type better that the other?  If so in what ways?

Then when I want to edit the HD video I  can't figure out which project preset to use.  It seems that the m2t files are AVC HD files, but do I use the AVCHD preset which seems to be about using a particular AVCHD codec and I don't know whether the m2t files are using that codec.

Thank you for your help,

Jay Lagemann

----------------------

So now that I have a new Sony support number to call I get on the phone and spend almost two hours with a support tech guy who remotely takes over my computer and keeps looking in the Start menu for the serial number ( and naturally can't find it).  Then he reinstalls Adobe Premiere Pro, and keeps looking in the Start menu for the serial number (still can't find it)  keeps looking until finally he transfers me to an Tech Support guy who is supposed to be a specialist in Premiere Pro.  He spends a lot of time looking in the Start menu and then downloads some program off of the web to search for product keys in the Registry.  That doesn't work either so after an hour and a half he says he is going to transfer me and I have to wait another half an hour listening over and over again to the same junk until finally someone new comes on the line. 

Naturally I am expecting to move up the Tech Support ladder to someone who might know more, but no...
The new guy doesn't know anything other than to look in the Start Menu.  At this point I gave up and had dinner.

At This point I'm about ready to send the computer back to Sony since it is in the 30day trial period.  The problem is that it is a good computer and seems like it can really do the job of editing HD video.