Customize Default User Profile for New Accounts in Windows 10  

2.2) For this tutorial I did the following customizations (numbers in screenshot, see explanations below):
Placed shortcuts for Mail and News app and PC Settings to desktop
Installed VLC Player and Office 2013 Professional. As Office 2013 can be installed without a product key which is first asked when one of the programs in Office suite is launched first time, it can be included in this image and only needs a product key when image is deployed to a computer and its user wants to use Office. If user does not need or want Office, it can then be easily uninstalled. Placed VLC and Office shortcuts to bottom left
Set Explorer icon view = large icons, set ribbon to be shown, added Libraries to Explorer left pane tree view
Added my favorite forums to IE favorites
Changed the default homepage to Windows 10 Forums
Changed the wallpaper and theme colors

2.3) You can change and customize quite a lot but there are a few things that can't be set now for default user profile. Pinned Taskbar icons and Start Menu / Start Screen items for instance will not be copied to default user profile. A rule of thumb: You can customize everything related to themes, fonts, colors, sounds, icons, desktop and IE. You cannot customize anything on Start Menu and Taskbar.

I'm setting up an image using 1607, but it wont allow me to change anything related to themes. Has something changed with 1607 to prevent this? In Audit mode the OS really isn't activated, Windows 10 (1607) will not allow you to make any Personalization changes until the OS is activated. Is there anyway around this? I also tried to set the wallpaper via the answer file but that didn't apply either. See the screenshot below:

What an excellent thread! Thanks for all this information Kari.

I just bought an extra laptop to act as a backup for my company, so I wonder can I customise the default user profile on one machine and then copy it to the other?

Secondly, as the new machine is a new install and my "old" machine is running well, I have no need to perform a clean install. Is it possible to customise the default profile without reinstalling Windows?

This is all very helpful!

I have been an avid reader for a while.
The problem I am having with copy profile generalize and my unattend.xml's is that if I automate logon, I always wind up with the DV KB as well as normal(QWERTY) on all user profiles
I have searched all over and cannot seem to find anyone else having this issue.

I do not image more than 20 computers a month and I am happy with my default user profile startmenu/ taskbar set up, IE settings, and (legacy share-point environment ) I got to the point where I would just do the full OOBE experience,enable and log in as local admin, delete the first account log in as local and then capture the wim.
I could then deploy via basic partition only task sequences and autounattends...walk away and there is the local admin account waiting for me to log in change the PC name and add to the domain.
But I really would like to get over this dvorak KB issue.

Thank you for all the help I have received this far.

how to enter Audit Mode in win 10 1909

Hey that was exactly what I was searching for!
But is there a way, to do this, but without the installation drive? Because I am installing the windows from my Network.

Hello. Is this tutorial still relevant in 2024 or is there an updated version? I'm asking before I start to edit my default user profile, just in case.