windows 7 not genuine after update KB971033

when i bought my first computer dell inspiron 1545,3 years ago,i knew nothing about OS genuine/not genuine issue.It came with windows vista preinstalled (OEM).Into the first year,and it got infected with a virus(newfolder.exe).I took it to the place from where i bought it,and they fixed it.The guy there asked me if i wanted windows 7 to be installed on my system.I was offcourse lured(i knew windows 7 was better) and i said
yes.So he installed windows 7 ultimate on my system.It ran fine for another year ,until i installed this Update for Windows 7 (KB971033){windows activation technologies}.My deskop background went black,i started to get a 'windows not genuine' at the bottom right side and my ms office degraded to office 2003.and loads of other restrictions and problems.
it was then that i came to know that there was some 'hack'going around in'oem'based windows that times where you could get windows 7 and bypass genuininity activation.The guy had done the same thing to my windows.And i had fooolishly installed the update which caught the hack.
But i wanted to get rid of windows 7 and get back my genuine windows vista.So i thought of reinstalling.But i could not find the product key.i looked at the backside and in the battery compartment.but it is not there.Since it is oem installation,and someone said that your bios is configured with your product key ,then there must be some way to get back my windows vista back.
please someone help.i want to get out of this crap and put my time in other productive works.

That update checks if you have a LEGAL copy of windows installed, if not this update will de-activate your copy.

wanchoo said:

Otherwise take the Laptop to the same vendor and ask him to put back the legal copy of Windows Vista that you may have had earlier. He should be able find out the genuine key by searching in his records. It is however amazing that the genuine Vista Product Key is not stuck on the base of your Laptop. The Product Key may also be in the Vista DVD Packing Case that you seem to be having.

i cannot take the laptop to the same vendor because i have moved .the product key is indeed not in the back or in the battery compartment.the back has a sticker with service tag and express service code.i did not get any vista dvd packing case.the documents that came with the computer has product id but not product key.if the OEM license works like that you can use windows on only the computer on which it came pre-installed,there must be some way to convince the microsoft or dell that i bought the genuine windows.everything cannot hinge on posession of a product key.

I found an article to get rid of it. Hope it helps :

How to Fix Windows 7 Not Genuine Error -“This copy of Windows is not genuine”

On my machine, the validation task is scheduled to run every 90 days. Another task, called ValidationTaskDeadline is also scheduled to run every 90 days, but 10 days later. This makes me think that if the first task cannot connect to MS for 10 days, I am screwed. Because this is a laptop, if I am travelling, that could easily happen. Can anyone tell me what happens if the validation task can't connect to MS for more than 10 days of trying? Also, what will happen if I simply disable those scheduled tasks from running? I have a genuine version of win 7 pro, and never had any problem with validation, but I do not want to be screwed due to MS's paranoia.