Remotely provide a key to Vista and activate

In the past I've mentioned slmgr.vbs.  I just used it to remotely provide a key to a workstation and activate it.  It was very simple.  The syntax took me a couple of tries but here it is -

slmgr.vbs machinename domainname\username password -ipk PID

This first step will provide the machine with a key.  Substitute your info in all the appropriate places including your product key in place of PID.

slmgr.vbs machinename domainname\username -ato

This step activates the machine.

If the target isn't a member of a domain you can use a local administrator account.  You also will need access through the local Vista firewall to make changes in WMI.  This is documented in the Volume Activation Step-by-Step Guide which is a must-read for deployment experts.  A copy is also provided as a document in the beta download of BDD 2007 on Connect.

These steps appear to work for any version of Vista.  I have tried it on Ultimate successfully, if you're curious.