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CopyProfile

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Applies To: Windows Vista

Use the following steps to use CopyProfile to set customized user profiles:

  1. Log on as a user whose profile you can customize (for example, the built-in-administrator account).

  2. Customize the desired user profile settings.

  3. Set CopyProfile to true in the Unattend.xml file that you will use with Sysprep in the next step.

  4. Run sysprep /generalize /unattend:unattend.xml to copy the customized user profile settings over the default user profile.

    All subsequent user accounts that are created will have the customizations that you have set. For details about Sysprep, see the Sysprep Technical Reference in the Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) User's Guide. (Opk.chm).

    This setting does not copy the built-in administrator profile unless the built-in administrator is the currently logged-on user.

Note

The CopyProfile unattend setting is processed only in the specialize phase of Windows Setup, so you must use Sysprep with the /generalize option.

Note

If you capture an image after the generalize phase of Windows Setup has completed (that is, after step 4) and use that image to install Windows with an explicit Unattend.xml answer file passed to Setup.exe, then the explicit Unattend.xml answer file must have CopyProfile set to true, otherwise the customized user profile will not be copied over the default user profile.

Important

The built-in administrator account profile is deleted when you perform a clean Windows installation, or run the Sysprep tool. The CopyProfile setting is processed before the built-in administrator account is deleted, so any customizations that you make should appear in the new user account profile, including the built-in administrator account profile.

Values

true

Specifies that the currently logged-on user profile is copied. Set to true only if there are customizations made to the logged-on user profile that you need to apply to all new users.

false

Specifies that the currently logged-on user profile is not copied. This is the default value.

Valid Passes

specialize

Parent Hierarchy

Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup | CopyProfile

Applies To

For the list of the supported Windows editions and architectures that this component supports, see Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup.

XML Example

The following XML output specifies that the user profile of the currently logged on user will be copied.

<CopyProfile>true</CopyProfile>

See Also

Concepts

Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup