Apply a single default layout, and allow users to customize all of it.

What we would like to do is customize this so that when users log on for the first time, they get useful shortcuts and pinned tiles instead of all of this cruft.

Out of the box, a Windows 10 Start Menu would look like this on the Enterprise version:-Īside from being garish, most of the stuff appearing there is neither use nor ornament to an enterprise user. So for this article, let’s address how we can provide a customized layout to a user when they log on to a machine or session for the first time. We will handle the first issue (customization of the default) in part #1, and the second issue (saving and persistence) in part #2.

Saving and persisting the configuration of a user’s Start Menu and Tiles between sessions and devices.

Providing customized default Start Menu/Tiles layouts to different groups of users, even those using the same devices.

We are going to address two fundamental issues that come up a lot when speaking to members of the EUC community:. So we are going to do a write-up based around the management of the Start Menu and Start Tiles based around the Windows 10 and Server 2016 versions, fully patched as of. Additionally, the methods for managing this have also evolved. Originally, they utilized a database called vedatamodel.edb, but have now eschewed this in favour of a Registry and filesystem approach. Naturally, Microsoft have even evolved their approach to handling the Start Tiles area of the Start Menu further as Windows 10 feature updates have progressed. And in true Windows 10 fashion, we now have a mish-mash of the two, a combination of filesystem entries and the mysteries that compose the “Start Tiles”. Windows 8 introduced the “Start Screen”, which was handled by binary files called emdata-ms*, which made things infinitely harder. The management on Windows 7 was easy, because it was simply done with flat filesystem entries backed up by GPOs. ….followed by the “halfway house” between old and new that we now have in Windows 10/Server 2016. We all loved Windows 7/2008 R2…Īnd then came the abomination that was Windows 8/2012… Microsoft’s decision to remove the Start Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1 and then replace it with a hybrid of Start Menu and Live Tiles in Windows 10/Server 2016 remains a contentious maneouvre in the UI space. I feel like I’ve written tons of articles and delivered loads of presentations around this particular subject. Another subject that needs a “final word”.

Turn off live tiles in windows 10