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AD GPO Method
Setup
First customize your start menu tiles until they are arranged to your liking.
Then open Powershell
In powershell run the command
Export-StartLayout -Path C:\Users\defaultstartlayout.xml
Then open gpedit.msc (local) or the your target gpo in Group Policy Management (ADS)
Go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar
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Then edit Start Screen Layout
Enable the policy and put the path of the xml file you exported in step 3 (C:\Users\defaultstartlayout.xml for this example)
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Default User/ Import Layout Method
Setup your start menu as you would like for new users. Be sure no do put folders or files located in your profile like your “Documents” folder since they point to the folder in your profile not the symbolic Documents folder
Start powershell as administrator (this is required since we need to modify the default user profile)
Run the following in powershell
Export-StartLayout -Path C:\Temp\custom_layout.xml
Import-StartLayout -LayoutPath C:\Temp\custom_layout.xml -MountPath $env:SystemDrive\
— Thad Schulz 2015/11/25 10:37