Problem getting Office 2008 for Mac to run

I received Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 from Apple the other day. I installed it on my MacBook today. When I finished, it checked for any updates and found that there was one. I downloaded and installed the update. When I start any application in the suite ( home and student) it goes through the initial introductory process and asks me to register. Then it goes to the check for updates window. After that finishes and finds none, nothing happens. I cannot get Word to open. If I double click a Word document, the initial introductory process starts again.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on? During the install process, it did not ask for a serial number (there are 3).