Is this a virus or a legit error message? HELP!

I have had my PC for 3 years now and it has a legit copy of Win 7 Home Premium 64bit on it. I do not have any other pcs and no one else uses mine because I live alone. I was on Wikipedia and went to go to Youtube when I got a message from the web stating that I may be the victim of software counterfeiting. I did a system restore from a point only 4 hours previous and it was gone. I have been surfing and researching this error and I have found that people get this error when using an invalid copy of Windows. The reason I think this was a virus is because it stated that to remove this error I needed to get a code by completing one of several offers. I forget what the offers were but I know a couple were for some legit Antivirus programs and some were surveys. It stated that when I completed an offer I would get a code that I would need to submit. During this process this webpage stayed open with a submit code button and a message at the bottom that basically informed me that it was monitoring whether I completed an offer. I also went and validated my copy of Windows from their website so I know this copy is legit. I bought my pc brand new and Win 7 came with it. I'm not sure if this is relevant or not but my pc recently installed some updates in the last 24 hours. My question is this...was this a virus or was this a problem caused by recent updates and will it occur again? Thank-you for any help and advice.

Faladu said:

Sounds like you fell for a scam. [or one scam/ad was tried on you, unsure if you went 100% through with it]

Whose website was used to validate windows?

Only Microsoft would do that . and it has it's own checker built into 7.

In the search box, type System, click on SYSTEM from the list ONLY, that should bring up the box, the bottom section is:

Windows Activation:
Your status is there.

I've had to reactivate before, but it's all done via a Microsoft site or a .exe you download from them, it's been awhile but that was the method. [very simple, but you described a scam...]

If you don't wipe your browser history all the site info would be there.

Try hitting ENTER so your posts aren't so ugly to read, after complete sentences or paragraphs please.

Thanks for your reply. I didn't fall for any scam because I did not pay for or download any product. As soon as I got the error and was prevented from accessing Google and other sites I did a system restore which fixed the problem.

I ran the Windows validation from the Microsoft website at www.microsoft.com/genuine/validate.

The reason for this post was to research this error in the hopes of preventing it from happening again. I needed to know whether this was the genuine Windows error or a virus masking itself as such.

I had the suspicion that it was, in fact, a virus because of the request to complete offers which meant paying money and because I knew that my copy of Windows was 100% legit.

You never really answered that important question and instead only offered me advice on how to get my Windows validated which I already knew. You also gave me your version on how a post should be laid out which I didn't ask for but did take into consideration.

This is my first post on this site and I can only hope that when I do ask for help with a question in the future, I will get a helpful answer from a considerate person who takes the time to carefully read my topic information. I'm sorry to say that all I got from you was criticism, cosmetic advice, and answers to questions unasked.

An example is when you asked in your reply which website I used to validate my copy of Windows. If you took the time to read my post instead of just looking at how it was presented, you would see that I clearly stated that I got Windows validated at "their" website. Also, your reply is worded as though my question was simply "how do I validate my copy of Windows"?

I've spent too much time with this reply so I will say thank-you for taking the time to post anything at all.