FreeStyler posted in his thread "Not-genuine-after-KB971033-update-Read-this!" that once Windows 7 is activated, it is important to validate online. Why is it important to validate online and not just ignore KB971033 altogether? Once validated online (I presume his link to Microsoft installs KB971033), doesn't that set up Microsoft to be re-checking your computer for the next 90 days? Are there benefits here I am missing?
Looks like there was another thread titled "Why is it important to Validate online?" which gives the answer that if I am validated and have never been flagged, then there is no reason to do this. If I am mistaken let me know... Awesome site.
Basically you partially answered your questions, You need to validate online 'after' being flagged as non-genuine and fixing your system as described in "Not-genuine-after-KB971033-update-Read-this!" You need to have KB971033 installed to be able to download programs that require the validation control to be installed from MS download center.
I was under the impression that by just disabling ValidationTask & ValidationTaskDeadline does not affect your ability of still being capable of grabbing stuff the require validation directly from MS. I mean, those two commands simply disable the calling home task itself (i.e. removing it from schedule); you can still validate on demand / manually even with those two disabled It won't restore it; it was a silly comment I made in first place. That would restore only corrupted / modified files