I have not been able to register the visual

basic express software also. It keeps

telling me invalid email. I am beginning

to think it is just a marketing gimmick.

It is not a marketing gimmick but it seems microsoft is having some issues with the registration process.
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx PostID=567005&SiteID=1

You probably need to update your profile manually by going to http://profile.microsoft.com