Default Profiles

Unrealism

New Member
Messages
7
ok, I am wanting to make a custom profile so when new people log in they all have the same settings. so here is what I used to do in Windows up to 7.


1. Make a user called "Template" with Admin rights.
2. Login as "Template" and customize profile (look, keyboard settings, background, etc)
3. Reboot, login as another admin account.
4. Copy "Template" profile to "c:\Default" and give permission to everyone.
5. Login as user and all the settings are retained.


I done this process for years and never had any issues. Until Windows 8! Now when I do this, it works... with the exception of the Metro tiles. I can not open Microsoft Store, IE, Weather, Mail, Etc. All I get is a splash screen the the tile closes. So does anyone have any ideas what I am doing wrong? Or is there a fix?


Thanks in advance...


Don
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8 pro
Well, yes and no...

Yes.. I have managed to make a "Working" default without doing a sysprep...

No.. I am not sure if it will create any issues, I have not had any thus far! (knock on wood)

Here are my notes below...


So far... this is working for me. The problems I had was doing it the old way (ie. just copy template files to default) caused weird things. Like my Metro tiles would not open, or I could open Internet Explorer Metro version but it wouldn't load any pages or appear to lock up, or even not being able to download from the app store. So here is what I found below... hope this helps.




- Create a new user (ie. Template).

- Customize profile (backgrounds, settings, etc), Metro app arangements (if necessary needs redownloaded anyway)

- Log off user

- Login as a administrator (You may have to enable the account or use another admin account)

- Open Explorer (Show All hidden files and system files)

- rename c:\users\default to c:\users\default.old

- rename c:\users\template to c:\users\Default

- right click Default folder, goto properties, security, and give inherited permissions and to its subfolders to c:\users\Default.

- Delete c:\users\default\Appdata\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Files (Not sure if this one is actually necessary, but do it anyway... just temp files)

- Delete the c:\users\default\Appdata\Local\Packages Folder

- copy the C:\Users\default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\appsfolder.itemdata-ms file to a temp location.. I just made a subfolder called "Temp" you will need it later after logging in the new profile. (This is what arranges the Metro tiles from what I have gathered. The reason I copy it to a temp folder in that profile is because when you login as a new user it copies the folder structure and files to the new user and you can just pull it later from the new profile!

- Delete any remaining files under C:\Users\default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows, not the folders, just the files. I didn't gather all of the names. sorry. I think its like 6 files.

- Login into new user account

- log back off after it has created.

- log back in as administrator, and copy the C:\Users\default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\appsfolder.itemdata-ms file from your temp subfolder (if that is where you placed it) replacing the created one.

- log back in as new user to test your profile, it should be working (backgrounds, settings, etc., test metro tiles as well.

- Signin to Microsoft store, right click and goto "My Apps" and reinstall any apps necessary.

Let me know if it works for you, seems fine for me so far...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8 pro
Thank you for responding Don. I tried the above method but didn't have any luck. I'm contacting Microsoft for help. If I find a resolution, I will post it in this forum.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Professional
    CPU
    I5
    Memory
    4 GB
Ya I'd be interested in hearing their answer myself, it shouldn't be this hard. Lol

If I get a chance I will try to so a screen recording of my process and see if that helps. I just had a little girl this week so my hands are full.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8 pro
LOL...I've been working on this for the past week and IT"S DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!! Congratulations on your baby girl!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Professional
    CPU
    I5
    Memory
    4 GB
It really does work lol, I have it saved in a VM as well because I went back and forth so many times. Lol. Ill try to get it up ASAP for you. I am using x64 pro if that helps. Shouldn't matter but who knows with Microsoft these days
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8 pro
It worked! Thank you for taking time out to help me...this is a life saver! The video was great!

Joe
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Professional
    CPU
    I5
    Memory
    4 GB
Don,

Finally figured it out and the Modern (Metro) tiles work!. The Windows 8 procedures for customizing the Default user profile are completely different from Windows 7. I'm attaching some useful links below that will allow you to make a copy of your Default profile successfully:

How to Customize the Default User Profile by Using CopyProfile: How to Customize the Default User Profile by Using CopyProfile

How to Capture an Image for Deployment: How to Capture an Image for Deployment (Generalize)

How to Customize the Start Screen: How to Customize the Start Screen

Removing Built-in Applications from Windows 8: Removing Built-in Applications from Windows 8 - The Deployment Guys - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

Removing or Updating Windows 8 built-in Windows Store apps causes Sysprep to fail: Removing or Updating Windows 8 built-in Windows Store apps causes Sysprep to fail

Hope this helps.

Joe
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Professional
    CPU
    I5
    Memory
    4 GB
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