To reinstall vista, right click computer and select manage, go to disk managment. right click on the restore partition and select mark partition as active, then restart.

Run the system backup recovery after reinstalling vista to get back to the state it was before installing windows 7.

Create a partition for windows 7 while in vista.. 40 - 60 GB minimum is what I would recommend.

reinstall windows 7, but uncheck automatically activate windows and don't select automatic updates.

Install the fingerprint software and other drivers from support.hp.com BEFORE going to the windows update site. That will ensure your fingerprint reader is working. (I speak from experience with installing windows 7 on laptops with fingerprint readers)

if you need more info, please ask before trying something if you don't know what will happen. hopefully it will spare you from repeating some of the mistakes I made