Changed battery in 1997 mercury villager now wont start lights come on and starter is good What is wrong?

You probably need the original key fob for the car. This is regardless if you have an alarm for the car. I've changed the battery twice in the last five years for my 97 Villager and each time I've had to "reset" the "alarm" via the key fob. The last time, I had to uncable the battery twice because it would not "reset" using the key fob before finally accepting the "unlock/disarm" from the key fob.