Solved Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu?
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@JasGot said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
@Obsolesce said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
Looks like you need to step out of the home user shell and pony up the resources to properly manage Win10 for a business.
Or you are stuck doing it manually. There are a lot of tools that work super well that you have dismissed simply because you want to do it in a way it's not designed.
We got it cleaned up and working well in the SMB I was at before because we did it the way it was designed to work and be managed.Care to expound on your comment?
Why are you trying to clean these things up after you deployed the machines? that's to late to worry about it.
Personally - if you're just trying to clean out the crap after already deploying machines - log in as an admin - wipe their profile, run the script, have them log back in now with a new cleaner profile.
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@Dashrender said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
Always before, we're a business so always before. and I just carry that same process when I build a computer at home.
Okay. That's the difference. So many of these scripts don't work after the user has logged in.
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@Dashrender said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
Why are you trying to clean these things up after you deployed the machines? that's to late to worry about it.
In this case, they are Windows 10 in place upgrades from Windows 7. The users have been using them for years.
In other cases, we have just taken over the IT and didn't have the luxury of deploying image based computing.
And most importantly, our average customer is 25-250 employees and we do not have the luxury of dictating the policies when it comes to how and where people put their stuff.
I have to weigh the pros and cons before I decide to make a new profile something we do for the in place upgrades. There are many config and personalization items that would have to be rebuilt. Not to mention the whole printer addiction people have. I suppose I could extract local and remote printers from their registry and import those too. That is another round of testing; for another day.
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@Dashrender I appreciate you providing this. It has been very helpful.
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@JasGot said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
In this case, they are Windows 10 in place upgrades from Windows 7. The users have been using them for years.
Sorry to hear that, but explains a lot.... and is also the source of the problem.
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Does anyone know off-hand if the script has to run on a new profile, or does it have to be run before a profile logs in to windows 10?
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@JasGot said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
Does anyone know off-hand if the script has to run on a new profile, or does it have to be run before a profile logs in to windows 10?
Good question - I don't know.
I've only ever run it in audit mode.
I can probably spin up a machine tomorrow and test it - skip audit mode, make the normal first user, run the script.. make another local user.. reboot log in as that new user and see.
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@Dashrender said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
I can probably spin up a machine tomorrow and test it - skip audit mode, make the normal first user, run the script.. make another local user.. reboot log in as that new user and see.
Only if you want to play, else I'll do that this weekend. I was just hoping someone would say they have already experimented with it.
I'll report back with my findings.....
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Most things need to happen pre user first login. Some things are audit mode only.
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@JasGot said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
Only if you want to play, else I'll do that this weekend. I was just hoping someone would say they have already experimented with it.
I'll report back with my findings.....I'm reporting back. I spent the day upgrading from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro, testing with Win10crAPPRemover.ps1 in a variety of ways. Rinse, Repeat, many times with many different variations of approach.
I can say definitively that the Start Menu items and Tiles come with the first Windows 10 login even if you have an already existing profile. Meaning, I can now reliably achieve my goal of a clean Windows 10 interface with an existing profile.
Here are my reproducible steps to achieve my goal:
- Login to Windows 7 Pro machine as Domain or local admin.
- Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro
- Log in to Windows 10 Pro as the same domain or local admin you started the upgrade with
- VERY IMPORTANT - install all Windows updates to get you at least as far as the Windows 10 1807 build.
- Reboot
- Run Win10crAPPRemover.ps1 with your choice of settings.
- Reboot
Log in as another existing (but not yet logged in under windows 10) account and you will see your DeCrapped GUI.
This means I can do an in-place upgrade from Win7 Pro to Win10 Pro and de appify the existing user accounts as long as I de appify the computer before those already existing accounts log in to the Window 10 Pro install.
I did not test with any version other than Pro. I don't care about Home and Enterprise is de-appified from the OOBE.
If you feel the need to argue about what I have done, please ask for clarification before doing so, I'm sure I have left room in my words for misunderstanding.
This experiment is a success and it allows me to achieve my goal with great reliability. -
@JasGot Awesome detail of the process
@scottalanmiller mark this thread Q and then that as answer.
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@JaredBusch said in Script to Clean up Windows 10 Start Menu:
mark this thread Q and then that as answer
Done
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@JasGot Just wanted to add, were were 100% UNsuccessful when choosing to allow the Windows 10 Setup to install updates as part of the upgrade process.
We were 100% successful when we chose "Not right now".
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@JasGot that has been my standard practice on installing 10 (updating after installation). Glad that it's the overall best choice (do I get a star for doing it right all by myself?)
