miamiLAW
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how to copy a user profile as the default profile in windows 7
i logged into my domain. created a user. installed all my apps and settings. now i want to copy this profile to the default profile so that whenever a new user logs in, the get the same settings so i do not have to reconfigure all over again.
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1) Install all the applications you need on the computer.
2) Browse to the folder C:\Windows\system32\syspre
3) Run sysprep.exe
4) Under "System Cleanup Action", change the selection to "Enter System Audit Mode". Leave the option below to "Reboot" and click "OK".
5) The system will run sysprep and reboot in Audit mode.
6) You will be prompted to login as the local Administrator account, so be sure you know the password.
7) Once logged in, close the sysprep box. You can launch it later after you customize the Administrator profile.
8) Customize the Administrator profile just the way you want it to look for every user. Keep in mind that some things cannot be duplicated, such as pinning items to the taskbar, disabling Action Center Notifications, etc. But you can customize the default theme, desktop icons, the way folders look, etc.
9) Once you've made the Administrator profile the way you want it to look for every new user profile, go back to C:\Windows\system32\syspre
10) For the "System Cleanup Action", make sure "Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE)" is selected. You can select "Generalize" if you want, but that will unload all the drivers. That option is in case you want to move this Win7 image to a different computer make/model. Leave the option below as reboot and click OK.
11) This is the part where the local Administrator account is copied to the Default profile.
12) The system will run sysprep and reboot. After rebooting, it will look as if your computer has been turned on for the first time, hence the "Out-of-Box" option, aka OOBE. Windows will run through the setup prompts, reboot a few times, then arrive at the setup screen to configure the PC.
13) Go through the prompts as if the PC were new.
From this point on, every new user logged on will copy that local Administrator profile you configured while in Audit mode.
Keep in mind that before you get started you need to know your local Administrator account's password.