I am attempting to customize the start screen of a windows 8 Pro image for deployment. I have been searching and reading different threads well as technet articles but I have not found anything that works or is not completely documented.
I have tried the three methods outlined in the technet about customizing the start screen with no luck. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj134269.aspx
The CopyProfile option does not work. Even after enabling the administrator account in audit mode the start screen tiles are not saved after sysprepping.
Copying the AppFolderLayout.bin file or appsFolder.itemdata-ms to the default user profile does not work. The file is overwritten during the oobe process. I have added these files after sysprepping the image. They are overwritten in the default user profile during oobe before the new user is created.
Using the StartTiles section of unattend would be the best option that will require fewer manual steps but only seems to be able to add new tiles. I cannot remove tiles or change order with StartTiles.
My unattend.xml file is here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10327232/unattend.xml
If anyone has a method that works for them please let me know. Especially if this can be automated using unattend.xml