Add File Explorer pin to default user taskbar in Windows 10 LTSC

C

Commander_HK47

New Member
I'm looking for away to reintegrate the file explorer pin within a Windows 10 LTSC image. I know that you can use a powershell script to reimport a layout, but I i think that only works for the one user the account that the script is run against. Has any one found a way to make it part of the default profile like how it is with windows 10 Pro?

I took a look at clean windows 10 pro's NTUSER.DAT using imagex to mounting the install.wim and then mount the .dat file as a seperate hive file, but there are no keys under software [~>Microsfot>Windows/Windows/currentversion>Explorer>taskband]... So i am trying to figure out how they do it in windows 10 pro so that you get all the pins without a layoutscript.
 
I didn't remove anything. By default windows 10 Enterprise+ does not have pins placed on new user profiles taskbar. They can be added via the user, GPO, or a unattended .ps1 scripts by normal means. I am seeking an alternate method via direct image ingratiation.

I do not want to simply copy the registry keys from an already existing profile as the hex values have personally identifiable information in them (profile name) and i am unsure what the rest of the hex values break down into via ASCII because its just wingdings.

In Win10 Pro/home pins for Edge, file explorer, MS store, and Mail are present by default. I thought these would just be registry keys in NTUSER.dat ~Explorer/Taskband section, but they are not present in this location for the default user profile in Windows 10 pro/home either.

Also after taking a look at the install.wim for a Win10 Pro image, [Default] does not have the links present in the ~AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch directory like i thought they might. So MS must be handling this a different way.
 
AHHH I think i found it:

~\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\DefaultLayouts.xml

I will report back after configuring and testing in a VM if it works.


Edit:

Hm... After looking at the file, it looks like its the template that MS uses for all of their Windows 10 start menus but doesn't include the taskbar pins. Might be able to add it there based on the other layou.xml guides, but i'd rather find where they have that by default.
 
Last edited:
For File explorer this should work:
XML: 
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture=...
            <TaskbarLinks>
                <Link1>%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\File Explorer.lnk</Link1>
            </TaskbarLinks>
 
Thanks, yeah i was gonna try that based on two resources i found :
https://www.joseespitia.com/2016/06/27/customized-a-windows-10-start-layout/ - This guy has a bunch of handy little tidbits on his site (props).

Then this article regarding startlayout and taskbar layout:
https://www.scconfigmgr.com/2016/08...in-windows-10-1607-during-osd-with-configmgr/

So i think I can just edit the layout.xml and drop it in to the install.wim in the shell folder, then unmount and commit the modified .wim and then not have to fuss with a .ps1 script to get file explorer back on the taskbar.

Time to test.
XML: 
<CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection PinListPlacement="Replace">

    <defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>

      <taskbar:TaskbarPinList>

        <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\File Explorer.lnk" />

      </taskbar:TaskbarPinList>

    </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>

  </CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
 
Last edited:
I use the same "layout" for "Win 8 calc" in Win 10, command prompt and Snipping Tool.

Works for Win 7 up to Win 10 1809.
 
Last edited:
I finally got it working! I had to delete the keys inside
Code: 
HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CloudStore
restart and was finally working. But this was on a live install. Now to work towards intergrating it back into the wim.

so inside the shell folder i have
DefaultLayouts.xml
ModifiedStartLayout.xml

I made sure that it also followed the formatting rules from the articles listed above and i got this in testing:

1662

Need to fix somethings, but i'll share once i clean it up.
 
Hmm, ok interesting. When i remove a pin; it comes back on sign out or system restart.


XML: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LayoutModificationTemplate
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification"
    xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout"
    xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout"
    xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout"
    Version="1">
  <CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
    <defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
      <taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
        <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\File Explorer.lnk" />
      </taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
    </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
 </CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
</LayoutModificationTemplate>

Maybe something isn't configured correctly and is acting like a "allways exsist flag"
 
Last edited:
Ahhh its a bug. Looks like I need to figure out a way to import it using a Ps1 script after all...

The updated article and comments cover the odd behavior
www.scconfigmgr.com

Customize Pinned Items on Taskbar in Windows 10 1607 during OSD with ConfigMgr - MSEndpointMgr

In previous version of Windows 10, customizing the task bar has been proven difficult to not say the least. Now with the release of Windows 10 version 1607, we finally have built-in support for customizing what’s pinned on the task bar. In this blog post, I’ll show you an example of how you can...
www.scconfigmgr.com www.scconfigmgr.com

NOTE! As for applications pinned by the enterprise, these will return if unpinned by the end-user every time explorer.exe restarts or at logon. If that’s not suitable for your environment, meaning that user changes are non-persistent, I’d recommend to apply the XML files with Group Policy instead.
Click to expand...

Could i put the file in a "Resource" folder and call a PS1 to install it with NTLite before first user login?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top