Installed windows 7 as upgrade this time. downloaded all up dates including kb971033. Ran wat fix and then loader v2.0.0. Then got online and got validated. Last time I didnt install as upgrade and ran loader before updates and didnt make it past validation. Used the same loader this time. Only difference is I downloaded updates first and ran wat fix first. Dont know if this would make a difference but thought it may be worth a mention.
Thanks for the report. You did what worked for me and, frankly, I wasn't sure it was best. Always good to have confirmation.