Well, it came as no surprise. You may be a victim of software counterfeiting.

[mixture]

For all the people who talk about BitTorrent etc. .....

"http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/"

Not only are BitTorrent and other questionable sources illegal, but they are also great sources of virus ridden copies of software !

For the original poster :

I know that W7 has impressed some of you, what's the best course of action and (real)expected wait times etc..

I would suggest....
Forget about beta and/or illegal copies of W7.
Forget about Vista.
Take up Microsoft on their generous offer of a legit copy of XP.