Hi All,

I have 2 windows 8 tablets that I want to allow the different departments to trial. I've spent a full day going around in circles looking for an easy way to:

1. Customise the default user profile so that the desktop taskbar and start menu tiles are set up how Ive configured them in the local admin profile
2. Copy the customised image to the 2nd test tablet

I planned on using system restore points to revert back to the clean image after each person has the tablet for a while to test it out.

I've read a bunch of articles and all I can surmise it that its insanely complicated to achieve these two tasks so Im pulling my hair out with frustration. I dont want to create a WIM image, use MDT or SSCM. Its for a 2 tablet trial so there's no real justification for that kind of setup.

Can anyone help with a simple start to finish process that I can follow?

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I've read the following articles already:

• Configuring Default User Settings Full Update for Windows 7 - this is a great blog post but i dont know which option to use and again, the options don't seem to take the tile mods which is my main focus
  http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/springboard/archive/2009/10/30/configuring-default-user-settings-full-update-for-windows-7.aspx
• Configuring Default User Settings Full Update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 a - as above
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys/archive/2009/10/29/configuring-default-user-settings-full-update-for-windows-7-and-windows-server-2008-r2.aspx
• How to Customize the Default User Profile by Using CopyProfile (i dont have an imagt to open??? so im lost at the 3rd step)
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825135.aspx
• Removing Built-in Applications from Windows 8
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys/archive/2012/10/26/removing-built-in-applications-from-windows-8.aspx
• Windows 7: Copy A Modified User Profile Over The Default  Profile
  http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/windows-7-copy-default-profile
• Win7 - Default User profile customizations not working (not using SSCM)
  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproinstall/thread/5c963383-2d3f-433a-857c-45d9e0f7ebff
• Default User Profile Setup (same info as a bunch of the other blogs)
  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winserverTS/thread/5520000b-a1a0-4025-9d38-7153962c551b
• Windows 7 default profile customization
  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproinstall/thread/5304477e-2495-4cce-ac8d-4bddac5ee0a7
• Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services - Default user/All user profile
  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/winserverTS/thread/c06e553e-8903-48ef-bd07-e47b832ad264/

Hi Leo,

Thanks for the reply, from reading those artciles i think its pretty clear that that method is dead now.

What was the solution?

We would like to deploy Windows 8 tablets using the OEM images that are factory installed, which means no Sysprepping or cloning.

We want to just join them to the domain and either manually run a script or, better, have Group Policy automate it replacing the "default" default profile with a custom one with tiles laid out showing only shortcuts and tiles we customized so their work related apps are all up front  and in their face and all the tiles designed for home users (Xbox, Videos, Photos, Windows Mail, Microsoft Store etc.) not displayed on the Start Menu.

We will install required software like Office and Windows updates via GPO,

How can this done?

there are many things in windows 8 you can do with/by GPO, but customizing/generalizing the start menu is sadly not one of them...

the MS explanation is that the tilescreen has been designed per user, not per system.

really great and helpful in enterprise environments no?

using the links that the OP has given you, you should be able to do just that, but keep in mind that this will work as long as you have local profiles.

check also: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj134269.aspx

Besides Computer Policies, there are also User Policies that can be configured by GPO.

I'm wondering if there is a way to configure a model profile for Windows 8 and then use a GPO to deploy the files and registry settings to the default user profile so each new user's profile is configured exactly the way the model profile was configured and laid out.

The links above are for Windows 7.

yes absolutely, but still me and colleagues can confirm that this kinda stuff is not there in GPOs...

there are definitely methods to create a model profile as you describe

the link I provided describes also how you could use the copyprofile to achieve some of your demands

btw there is one link in the OP post that is not referring to windows 7: http://blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys/archive/2012/10/26/removing-built-in-applications-from-windows-8.aspx

I'm in the same boat.  Just trying to demo a surface pro.  I know there will be multiple demo users and I want them all to have a consistent user experience.  I really didn't want to create a full blown image.  I was able to successfully remove the built in applications.  But from there it went downhill.  Short story - I'm trading out my Surface since I can't restore it to factory default.  My problem is that this is what the Surface support rep on chat told me when I told her that I had tried the sysprep steps.  As far as I am aware, the Surface Pro does not support this option at this time.

These are the articles that describe what I want to do - but....

Customize the Default User Profile by Using CopyProfile - technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825135.aspx - uses sysprep to configure user settings in audit mode and then generalizes the Windows installation by using an answer file that contains the CopyProfile setting

Customize the Start Screen - technet.microsoft.com/en-uslibrary/jj134269.aspx - uses sysprep to stage provisioned apps in the image and so they are scheduled to be installed for every user of the Windows image at first logon.

Removing Built-in Applications from Windows 8 -blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguy/archive/2012/10/26/removing-built-in-applications-from-windows-8.aspx  - uses powershell to remove the factory delivered built-in provisioned apps.

Add and Remove Apps - technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh852635.aspx - uses powershell to install an app package (.appx) on a per-user basis by using the add-appxpackage PowerShell cmdlet OR add provisioned apps to an image.