Customizing the image

Customization in Windows 10 can be a mix of PowerShell scripts, group policies/group policy preferences, and registry key tweaks. The site http://gpsearch.azurewebsites.net/ is a boon for image customization, showing via a filter all the group policy objects that can be tweaked on Windows 10:

It is important to note with any customization effort that eventually, the administrator will run into a setting that cannot be edited or tweaked for all users by default. The Windows product group has determined that some settings are not for enterprises or admins to tweak but are instead user-only settings that are part of their personalization efforts.

A Group Policy is a somewhat fluid configuration option and has been for a while now. A great place to keep abreast of new changes coming to group policy processing is http://www.grouppolicy.biz/news/. This site also has tutorials, guides, best practices, and other resources that are a boon for the Windows administrator. Certainly, one could also consider attending a talk by Jeremy Moskowitz over at www.gpanswers.com. He is an MVP in Group Policy management and design and his talks are pretty good (speaking from first-hand experience).

But what if group policy or GPP cannot be used to achieve your desired outcome? Process Monitor logging while you configure the UI as desired may give a hint of a registry key that you need to modify (which can usually be added by group policy or REG ADD commands) to make the tweak happen. This is a frowned-upon practice, however, primarily because those registry keys may change location (or just not work) on a build-to-build basis of Windows 10. So if you use group policy objects to handle tweaking, you are on a much more solid, supported path for your image and user experience than hacking the registry for undocumented setting tweaks.