Fully customize Taskbar during deployment

Dark Rookie 6 Reputation points
2022-05-12T21:26:18.51+00:00

I can't find a way to do this, and knowing my experiences in the past there prolly isn't way to do this, but I would to setup the taskbar fully during deployment using MDT 2013.
I want to remove the Search Box, Taskveiw, and New apps. I also want to remove all the default pinned apps and replace them with ones I want.
I am really tired of manually doing this each time for each new install.

For the first three, I haven't found a way to do it that doesn't involve just doing it manually when I setup the user.
For the pinning of the apps, I found some ways, but none worked right. They would either completely locked the Start Menu from completely working and/or change on each reboot.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
A collection of Microsoft tools and documentation for automating desktop and server deployment. Previously known as Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD).
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Windows 10 Setup
Windows 10 Setup
Windows 10: A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.Setup: The procedures involved in preparing a software program or application to operate within a computer or mobile device.
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  1. AllenLiu-MSFT 40,076 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2022-05-17T02:33:28.19+00:00

    Hi, @Dark Rookie

    Thank you for posting in Microsoft Q&A forum.

    As far as I know, we may customize taskbar layout in a GPO, so why not use GPO rather than having to inject it during a task sequence?

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  2. Limitless Technology 39,336 Reputation points
    2022-05-20T07:57:30.377+00:00

    Hello DarkRookie,

    Yes this is possible, by using the LayoutModification.xml and applying during in the Task Sequence for the deployment. This includes removing Search bar or Cortana, removing default apps, adding your own, etc...

    Reference:
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/configure-windows-10-taskbar

    Additional reference:
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/start-layout-xml-desktop

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