Monday, March 20, 2017

Customize the Windows 10 start menu and taskbar during deployment

Customize the Windows 10 start menu and taskbar during deployment

Objective

In this lab, you learn how to:
  • Customize the Start menu layout based on your organization's requirements.
  • Export the Start menu layout to an XML file.
  • Deploy the Start menu layout to targeted devices by using Group Policy settings.
  • Deploy the Start menu layout to online and offline Windows 10 images by using Windows PowerShell.
  • Customize the taskbar layout based on your organization's requirements.
  • Add the taskbar layout to the Start menu layout XML file.
  • Deploy the merged Start menu and taskbar layout to targeted devices.

Scenario

The Windows 10 Anniversary update operating system offers better user experience management. Companies can customize the Start menu and taskbar, while still allowing users to pin, unpin, and change the order of pinned apps after deployment.
You can deploy these customizations for domain-joined devices by using Group Policy. You can use management systems (such as Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager) to deploy them by using Windows PowerShell.

Virtual Machines

  1. DC
  2. WIN10-02
  3. WIN10-03

Exercise 1 : Verify current Start menu and taskbar configuration

In this exercise, you verify the current Start menu and taskbar configuration. Specifically, you note the icons pinned to the Start menu and taskbar. You also note the layout (placement) of these icons on the Start menu and taskbar. Later in this lab, you’ll compare this configuration to the customized Start menu and taskbar that you created.
  1. Sign-in to WIN10-03
    (1) Switch to WIN10-03 by clicking the Switch to Machine icon to the right, next to the Done button. (2) Sign in to WIN10-03 as Mark Hassall (CORP\Mark) with a password of Passw0rd.
  2. View current Start menu configuration
    (1) Click Start. (2) Scroll through the list of apps on the Start menu. (3) View apps pinned to the Start menu. (4) View apps pinned to the taskbar.
    Pay particular attention to the apps pinned to the Start menu and taskbar. Also, notice the order in which they appear. You will compare this configuration with the configuration after you customize the Start menu and taskbar later in this lab.
In this exercise, you verified the current Start menu and taskbar configuration. You verified the icons pinned to the Start menu and taskbar. You also noted the layout of the icons on the Start menu and taskbar.

Exercise 2 : Customize and export Start menu layout

In this exercise, you learn how to customize the Start menu. You create a unique layout of icons that are pinned to the Start menu and taskbar. This customized Start menu and taskbar layout will be the template you will apply to other devices. You will export the Start menu layout as an .xml file by using the Export-StartLayout Windows PowerShell cmdlet. Later in this lab, you deploy the .xml file to other devices to make the Start menu layout match the template.
  1. Sign-in to WIN10-02
    (1) Switch to WIN10-02 by clicking the Switch to Machine icon to the right, next to the Done button. (2) Sign in to WIN10-02 as Mark Hassall (CORP\Mark) with a password of Passw0rd.
  2. Remove pinned apps from the Start menu
    (1) Click Start. (2) Right-click Fresh Paint, and then click Unpin from Start. (3) Repeat step 2 for the Groove Music, Adobe Photoshop Express, Movies & TV, PicsArt, Xbox, and Flipboard apps.
  3. Change size of pinned apps on the Start menu
    (1) If necessary, click Start. (2) Right-click SkypePreview, click Resize, and then click Wide. (3) Repeat step 2 for the Photos and Calculator apps.
  4. Add pinned apps to the Start menu
    (1) If necessary, click Start. (2) In the apps list, right-click Access 2016, and then click Pin to Start. (3) Repeat 2 for the Microsoft Excel 2016 and Sticky Notes apps. (4) Leave these apps in their own group (i.e., you should have three groups on the Start menu).
    To follow the remaining steps in this exercise, it is important that you leave Access 2016, Excel 2016, and Sticky notes in their own group. There should be three groups on the Start menu after completing this task, as shown in the screenshot.
  5. Add pinned apps to the taskbar
    (1) If necessary, click Start. (2) In the apps list, right-click Word 2016, click More, and then click Pin to taskbar. (3) Repeat step 2 for the Excel 2016 and PowerPoint 2016 apps.
  6. Export Start menu layout
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) On the taskbar, right-click Windows PowerShell ISE; in the context menu, right-click Windows PowerShell ISE, and then click Run as administrator. (3) In the User Account Control dialog box, click Yes.  (4) Click inside the Command window, click the Type Text button to the right (next to the Done button), and then press Enter. (5) Close the Windows PowerShell integrated scripting environment (ISE).
    Now you have customized the Start menu and taskbar by arranging the icons on both. You’ll use this layout as the model for the Start menu and taskbar layout for your organization.

    You export the Start menu layout by using the Export-StartLayout Windows PowerShell cmdlet. You’ll need to run the Export-StartLayout cmdlet in an elevated Windows PowerShell environment. You specify the fully qualified path to where you want to store the .xml file and the .xml file name in the –Path parameter. Later in the lab, you’ll apply the layout in the .xml file to another device.
    Export-StartLayout -Path "\\DC\Source$\Layout\StartLayout.xml"
  7. Review the Start menu groups in XML
    (1) In File Explorer, go to \\DC\Source$\Layout, and then double-click StartLayout.xml. (2) In XMLNotepad, go to LayoutModificationTemplate > DefaultLayoutOverride > StartLayoutColletion > defaultlayout:StartLayout. (3) Compare the groups in the start:Group nodes with the Start menu groups. (4) Review the Knowledge box.
    The start:Group nodes correspond to the groups of tiles on the Start menu. You can have any number of Start menu tile groups. In this example, you see three Start menu tile groups represented by the corresponding start:Group nodes.
    If you compare the groups in the start:Group nodes with the Start menu groups, you’ll see that there’s a one-to-one correlation between the nodes and the groups. If you don’t want to manage the pinned apps within a Start menu group, you could remove the start:Group node.
  8. Review pinned UWP apps in XML
    (1) In XMLNotepad, expand the second start:Group node beneath the defaultlayout:StartLayout node. (2) Expand the first start:Tile node beneath the second start:Group node. (3) Review the XML configuration beneath the first start:Tile node. (4) Compare the app in the first start:Tile node with the corresponding app pinned in the Start menu. (5) Review the Knowledge box.
    The second start:Group node contains two type of child nodes: start:Tile and Start:DesktopApplicationTile. The start:Tile node represents an app built on the Windows Universal Platform (UWP) that is pinned to the Start menu within the specified Start menu group. You can see the app size, row and column placement, and link to the AppUserModelID. You can get the AppUserModelID of an app by running the Get-AppxPackage Windows PowerShell cmdlet and looking at the PackageFullName property. Compare the start:Tile node with the corresponding app pinned to the Start menu.
  9. Review pinned Window desktop apps in XML
    (1) In XMLNotepad, review the XML configuration beneath the first start:DesktopApplicationTile node beneath the third start:Group node. (2) Compare the app in the first start:DesktopApplicationLinkPath node with the corresponding app pinned in the Start menu. (3) Review the Knowledge box. (4) Close XMLNotepad without saving any changes.
    The start:DesktopApplicationLinkPath node represents a Windows desktop app and has almost the same information at the start:Tile node. The only difference is the DesktopApplicationLinkPath attribute, which contains the fully qualified path to the .lnk file for the Windows desktop app. You can find this path by looking for the .lnk file in the %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu subfolders. Compare the start:DesktopApplicationLinkPath node with the corresponding app pinned to the Start menu.
    You can manually edit the .xml file and remove the start:Tile and Start:DesktopApplicationTile nodes if you change your mind about managing those apps after you have already exported the .xml file or to create one-off Start menu configurations.
In this exercise, you customized and exported the Start menu layout. First, you customized the apps that are pinned to the Start menu and the layout of the pinned apps. Next, you ran the Export-StartLayout Windows PowerShell cmdlet to export the Start menu layout to an .xml file. You reviewed the XML nodes in the .xml file, including the start:Group, start:Tile, and Start:DesktopApplicationTile nodes. Now, you’re ready to use Group Policy to deploy the Start menu layout to another device.

Exercise 3 : Deploy Start menu layout using Group Policy

In this exercise, you learn how to use Group Policy to deploy the Start menu layout (in the .xml file that you exported earlier in the lab) to devices. First, you create a Group Policy object (GPO). Then, you configure the Start Layout setting in the newly created GPO to reference the .xml file you exported earlier in the lab. Next, you link the GPO to the domain and filter based on the device name (WIN10-03), which ensures that only the specified device is configured with the new Start menu layout.
  1. Sign in to DC
    (1) Switch to DC by clicking the Switch to Machine icon to the right, next to the Done button. (2) Sign in to DC as Mark Hassall (CORP\Mark) with a password of Passw0rd.
  2. Start GPMC
    In Server Manager, click Tools > Group Policy Management.
  3. Create new GPO
    (1) In the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC), in the navigation pane, go to Group Policy Management > Forest: corp.contoso.com > Domains > corp.contoso.com > Group Policy Objects. (2) In the navigation pane, right-click Group Policy Objects, and then click New. (3) In the New GPO dialog box, in Name, type Start Menu and Taskbar, and then click OK.
  4. Edit the GPO
    In GPMC, in the details pane, right-click Start Menu and Taskbar, and then click Edit.
  5. Open the Start Layout setting
    (1) In the Group Policy Management Editor, in the navigation pane, go to Start Menu and Taskbar > Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. (2) In the details pane, double-click Start Layout.
  6. Configure the Start Layout setting
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In the Start Layout dialog box, click Enabled. (3) Under Options, click the Start Layout File box, and then click the Type Text icon to the right, next to the Done button. (4) Click OK. (5) Close the Group Policy Management Editor.
    The Start Layout setting configures a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the location of the .xml file that contains the Start menu layout. This is the same .xml file that you reviewed earlier in the lab. Windows 10 will use this Group Policy setting to configure the Start menu on all targeted devices.
    \\DC\Source$\Layout\StartLayout.xml
  7. Create a WMI filter for the GPO
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In GPMC, in the navigation pane, go to Group Policy Management > Forest: corp.contoso.com > Domains > corp.contoso.com > WMI Filters. (3) In the navigation pane, right-click WMI Filters, and then click New. (4) In the New WMI Filter dialog box, in Name, type Deploy Only to WIN10-03. (5) In the New WMI Filter dialog box, click Add. (6) In the WMI Query dialog box, click the Query box, and then click the Type Text icon to the right. (7) In the WMI Query dialog box, click OK. (8) In the New WMI Filter dialog box, click Save.
    You need to create a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) filter to limit the devices that your new Group Policy settings will apply. For the purposes of this lab, your Group Policy setting should apply only to WIN10-03.
    Select * from Win32_ComputerSystem where Name='WIN10-03'
  8. Add the WMI filter to the GPO
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In GPMC, in the navigation pane, go to Group Policy Management > Forest: corp.contoso.com > Domains > corp.contoso.com > Group Policy Objects > Start Menu and Taskbar. (3) On the Scope tab, under WMI Filtering, in This GPO is linked to the following WMI filter, select Deploy Only to WIN10-03. (4) In the Group Policy Management dialog box, click Yes.
    The WMI filter must be linked to the GPO that you created earlier in this lab to ensure that the Group Policy settings are applied only to the desired device (WIN10-03), which is specified in the WMI filter.
  9. Link the GPO
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In GPMC, in the navigation pane, go to Group Policy Management > Forest: corp.contoso.com > Domains > corp.contoso.com. (3) In the navigation pane, right-click corp.contoso.com, and then click Link an Existing GPO. (4) In the Select GPO dialog box, in the Group Policy objects list, click Start Menu and Taskbar. (5) Click OK. (6) Close GPMC.
    You should link the GPO that you created to any Active Directory organizational unit (OU) that contains your Windows 10 devices. For the purposes of this lab, you will link it to the entire corp.contoso.com domain, but in most instances, you would link it to OUs that contain the Windows 10 devices. The Group Policy settings will be applied only to WIN10-03, however, because of the WMI filter that you linked to the GPO.
In this exercise, you used Group Policy to deploy the Start menu layout to targeted devices. First, you created a new GPO that contains the settings. Next, you configured the Start Layout setting in the new GPO. Then, you created a WMI filter to ensure that the settings are applied only to WIN10-03. Finally, you linked the GPO to the corp.contoso.com domain.

Exercise 4 : Verify Start menu layout

In this exercise, you verify that the Start menu layout on another device (WIN10-03) matches the layout you had on the device you customized earlier in the lab (WIN10-02). You visually verify that the correct apps are pinned to the Start menu and in the layout that you specified on WIN10-02. Before you visually verify the Start menu layout, you must update Group Policy settings on WIN10-03.
  1. Sign-in to WIN10-03
    (1) Switch to WIN10-03 by clicking the Switch to Machine icon to the right, next to the Done button. (2) Sign in to WIN10-03 as Mark Hassall (CORP\Mark) with a password of Passw0rd.
  2. Update Group Policy settings
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) Right-click Start, and then click Command Prompt (Admin). (3) In the User Account Control dialog box, click Yes. (4) Click the Type Text icon to the right and press Enter. (5) Close the Command Prompt window.
    Earlier in the lab, you configure the Start Layout Group Policy setting. Given enough time or if you restarted the VM, Windows 10 would be updated based on the Group Policy settings. For the purposes of this lab, however, you will force a Group Policy update by using the gpupdate.exe command. Again, this update would occur automatically in production environments.
    gpupdate.exe /force
  3. Review the Start menu
    (1) Click Start. (2) Review the layout of the pinned apps of the Start menu. (3) Review the Knowledge box.
    Earlier in the lab, you reviewed the layout of the Start menu. You reviewed the apps pinned to the Start menu and their layout. Keep a mental picture of this layout so that you can compare it to the new layout.
  4. Refresh the Start menu
    (1) Sign out of Windows 10. (2) Sign-in as CORP\Mark with a password of Passw0rd. 
  5. Review the Start menu
    (1) Click Start. (2) Review the layout of the pinned apps of the Start menu. (3) Review the Knowledge box.
    You can see that the layout of the Start menu on WIN10-03 now looks like the Start menu you customized on Win10-02. It’s important to note that the Start menu layout in the .xml file completely replaces the user’s previous Start menu layout.
  6. Try to pin app to Start menu
    (1) In the Start menu, right-click Publisher 2016, and then look at the menu options. (2) Review the Knowledge box.
    You can see that you’re unable to pin new apps to the Start menu: the Pin to Start action isn’t available. When you replace the existing Start menu layout with the Start menu layout in the .xml file, this is known as a full Start layout. A full Start layout prevents the user from pinning, unpinning, or resizing pinned apps. A partial Start layout allows you to control portions of the Start menu but still allows users to manipulate the other portions of the Start menu. Users will still be unable to modify the portions of the Start menu that you specify in your Start layout .xml file, however. You will create a partial Start layout .xml file later in this lab.
In this exercise, you verified the Start menu layout customization that you deployed earlier in this lab. First, you viewed the Start menu layout prior to applying your customized layout. Then, you updated Group Policy to ensure the Start Layout setting was applied. Next, you signed out and back in to the device to refresh the Start menu. You verified that your customized Start menu layout was applied to the device. Finally, you saw that users are unable to modify the Start menu because you deployed a full Start layout.

Exercise 5 : Deploy Start menu layout using Windows PowerShell

In this exercise, you learn how to deploy the Start menu layout by using Windows PowerShell. In a previous exercise, you used Group Policy to deploy the Start menu layout, which ultimately writes to the registry. The specific registry entries are LockedStartLayout and StartLayoutFile in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer. You can write to the same registry entries by using Windows PowerShell. You learn how to access these registry entries from a Windows PowerShell script.
  1. Start elevated Windows PowerShell ISE
    (1) On the taskbar, right-click Windows PowerShell ISE; in the context menu, right-click Windows PowerShell ISE, and then click Run as Administrator. (2) In the User Account Control dialog box, click Yes.
  2. Review the Get-StartMenuLayout.ps1 script
    (1) In Windows PowerShell ISE, open C:\Extras\Get-StartMenuLayout.ps1. (2) Review the script, referencing the Knowledge box. (3) Press Ctrl+A to select the entire script. (4) Press F8 to run the script. (5) Review the script output. (6) Close C:\Extras\Get-StartMenuLayout.ps1. (7) Leave the Windows PowerShell ISE open for the next exercise.
    This script lets you retrieve the current values of the LockedStartLayout and StartLayoutFile registry entries.

    Lines 2–8 of the script output the current value of the LockedStartLayout registry entry. Lines 11–18 of the script output the current value of the StartLayoutFile registry entry. Lines 3–4 define the registry path and registry subkey name. Line 6 gets the registry key value and saves it in the $Value variable. Line 8 outputs the value of the registry key to the console.

    Lines 11–18 follow the same logic flow as lines 2–8. The only difference is that lines 11–18 output the current value of the StartLayoutFile registry subkey name.
  3. Review Set-StartMenuLayout.ps1
    (1) In the Windows PowerShell ISE, open C:\Extras\Set-StartMenuLayout.ps1. (2) Review the script, referencing the Knowledge box. (3) Close C:\Extras\Set-StartMenuLayout.ps1. (4) Leave the Windows PowerShell ISE open for the next exercise.
    This script lets you set the values of the LockedStartLayout and StartLayoutFile registry entries.

    Lines 2–8 of the script set the value of the LockedStartLayout registry entry. Lines 11–18 of the script set the value of the StartLayoutFile registry entry. Lines 3–6 define the registry path, registry subkey name, registry value type, and registry value. Line 8 sets the registry key value in the $RegistryValue variable.

    Lines 11–18 follow the same logic flow as lines 2–8. The only difference is that lines 11–18 set the value of the StartLayoutFile registry entry. Notice that the registry value types are different: DWord and ExpandString. These parameter values correspond to REG_DWORD and REG_EXPAND_SZ registry value types, respectively.
  4. Review Import-StartMenuLayout.ps1
    (1) In the Windows PowerShell ISE, open C:\Extras\Import-StartMenuLayout.ps1. (2) Review the script, referencing the Knowledge box. (3) Close C:\Extras\Import-StartMenuLayout.ps1. (4) Leave the Windows PowerShell ISE open for the next exercise.
    This script lets you import the Start menu layout .xml file directly by using the Import-StartLayout cmdlet. You can use the Import-StartLayout cmdlet to import the Start layout XML into online and offline images.

    Line 3 defines the fully qualified UNC path to the Start menu layout .xml file, which is the same location where you saved it earlier in this lab. Line 4 defines the location where the image is mounted. For online operating systems, this is the system drive (typically drive C). The $env:SystemDrive Windows PowerShell variable always points to the system drive of the currently running operating system.

    Line 6 runs the Import-StartLayout cmdlet with the LayoutPath and MountPath parameters. When this command runs, the default Start menu layout for new users will be the layout in the .xml file specified in the LayoutPath parameter. You can run this script in a System Center Configuration Manager or Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) task sequence to configure the Start menu layout while deploying Windows 10.
  5. Review Import-StartMenuLayoutOffline.ps1
    (1) In the Windows PowerShell ISE, open C:\Extras\Set-StartMenuLayoutOffline.ps1. (2) Review the script, referencing the Knowledge box. (3) Close C:\Extras\Set-StartMenuLayoutOffline.ps1. (4) Leave the Windows PowerShell ISE open for the next exercise.
    This script lets you import the Start menu layout .xml file to an offline image (.wim file) by using the Import-StartLayout cmdlet. You can use this script to create custom images that you can deploy later by using System Center Configuration Manager or MDT.

    Line 3 defines the fully qualified UNC path to the .wim file that you want to customize. Line 4 defines the fully qualified UNC path to the Start menu layout .xml file, which is the same location where you saved it earlier in this lab.

    Line 5 defines the location where the image is mounted. For the purposes of this lab, the value is set to C:\Extras\Mount.

    Line 8 runs the dism.exe command with the /Mount-Image parameter, which mounts the .wim file specified in the /ImageFile parameter in the folder specified in the /MountDir parameter.

    Line 11 runs the Import-StartLayout cmdlet with the LayoutPath and MountPath parameters.

    Line 14 runs the dism.exe command with the /Commit-Image parameter, which commits the changes that you have made to the mounted .wim file.

    Line 17 runs the dism.exe command with the /Unmount-Image and /Commit parameters, which unmounts the .wim file and commits the changes to the mounted .wim file.
In this exercise, you learned how to use Windows PowerShell to deploy the Start menu layout .xml file to devices. You did this by configuring the LockedStartLayout and StartLayoutFile registry entries. You can read and write to these entries by using the Get-ItemPropertyValue and New-ItemProperty cmdlets. You can use this method with any software management system that supports Windows PowerShell.

You can use the Import-StartLayout cmdlet to import the Start menu layout during operating system deployment (online images), such as performed by System Center Configuration Manager or MDT. You can also use the Import-StartLayout cmdlet to import the Start menu layout into .wim files (offline images). As you have seen in the exercise, the syntax for online and offline images are similar.

Exercise 6 : Create a partial Start menu layout

The current Start menu layout allows you to configure the Start menu layout for your devices, but users are unable to customize the Start menu after you apply your Start menu layout. You may remember that in a previous exercise you tried to pin Microsoft Publisher 2016 to the Start menu, but the Pin to Start action was missing because the Start menu layout you deployed is a full Start layout. A full Start layout doesn’t allow uses to customize the Start layout. You can use a full Start layout for more secure environments where you want to fully restrict users, such as publicly accessed devices or kiosks.
  1. Sign in to DC
    (1) Switch to DC by clicking the Switch to Machine icon to the right, next to the Done button. (2) Sign in to DC as Mark Hassall (CORP\Mark) with a password of Passw0rd.
  2. Copy Start menu layout .xml file
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In File Manager, copy D:\Source$\Layout\StartLayout.xml to D:\Source$\Layout\TempPartialStartLayout.xml.
    First, make a copy of your existing Start menu layout .xml file (StartLayout.xml). You’ll modify the new copy of your .xml file to be a partial Start menu layout.
  3. Open TempPartialStartLayout.xml in XMLNotepad
    In File Manager, double-click D:\Source$\Layout\TempPartialStartLayout.xml.
  4. Add XML attribute to TempPartialStartLayout.xml
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In XMLNotepad, in the Tree View pane, go to LayoutModificationTemplate > DefaultLayoutOverride. (3) In the Tree View pane, right-click DefaultLayoutOverride, click Attribute, and then click Child. (4) In the new attribute name, type LayoutCustomizationRestrictionType. (5) In the details pane, for the new attribute, type a value of OnlySpecifiedGroups.
    The XML attributes and values are case sensitive. Ensure that you follow the capitalization as presented in this task.
    You must add the LayoutCustomizationRestrictionType attribute to the DefaultLayoutOverride element with a value of OnlySpecifiedGroups. The OnlySpecifiedGroups value tells Windows 10 to manage only those Start menu groups that you specify in the .xml file. The Start menu groups that you specify in the .xml file are locked. All other Start menu groups will be unlocked, allowing users to customize those Start menu groups.
  5. Verify attribute is properly added
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In XMLNotepad, click the XSL Output tab. (3) On the XSL Output tab, look for the line. (4) Click the Tree View tab.
    Verify that the XML attribute is properly added to the DefaultLayoutOverride element. The XSL Output tab lets you look at the .xml file as you would see it in Microsoft Notepad or in other XML editors. You can visually inspect to ensure that the new attribute was properly added.
  6. Remove a Start menu group
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In XMLNotepad, in the Tree View pane, go to LayoutModificationTemplate > DefaultLayoutOverride > StartLayoutCollection > defaultlayout:StartLayout. (3) I the Tree View pane, expand all start:Group nodes. (4) Review the Name attribute of each start:Group node. (5) Right-click the last start:Group node, and then click Delete. (6) Save the .xml file. (7) Close XMLNotepad.
    You need to remove one of the Start menu groups so that you can verify that users can customize that group. If you look at the group names, you can see that the first two groups are named Life at a glance and Play and explore. The last group contains the apps you pinned to the Start menu earlier in this lab. You will delete the last group so that the user can customize it.
  7. Copy new Start menu layout .xml file
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In File Manager, delete D:\Source$\Layout\StartLayout.xml. (3) In File Manager, copy D:\Source$\Layout\PartialStartLayout.xml to D:\Source$\Layout\StartLayout.xml.
    Prior to the lab, the PartialStartLayout.xml file was created based on the tasks you performed in this lab. You will copy the PartialStartLayout.xml file instead of the TempPartialStartLayout.xml file to help ensure that your lab is successful. Copy the PartialStartLayout.xml file instead of the TempPartialStartLayout.xml file.
    You’re deleting the StartLayout.xml file that you created earlier in the lab and replacing it with the PartialStartLayout.xml file so that you don’t need to change Group Policy settings. Otherwise, you would need to configure the Group Policy settings to use the PartialStartLayout.xml file instead of the StartLayout.xml file.
In this exercise, you created a partial Start menu layout .xml file. First, you added the LayoutCustomizationRestrictionType attribute to the DefaultLayoutOverride element with a value of OnlySpecifiedGroups, which tells Windows 10 to lock only those Start menu groups you specify in the .xml file. Users will be able to customize all other Start menu groups. Next, you remove one of the Start menu groups (containing the Sticky Notes UWP app) so that users can customize this group. You’ll verify that this process worked later in this lab.

Exercise 7 : Verify partial Start menu layout

In this exercise, you verify the partial Start menu layout on a device (WIN10-03). You visually verify that the locked Start menu groups cannot be changed. You verify that the group that contained the Sticky Notes app was removed. You also verify that you can pin apps to new Start menu groups. You won’t need to update Group Policy settings because you overwrote the .xml file, which required no changes to the Group Policy settings.
  1. Sign-in to WIN10-03
    (1) Switch to WIN10-03 by clicking the Switch to Machine icon to the right, next to the Done button. (2) Sign in to WIN10-03 as Mark Hassall (CORP\Mark) with a password of Passw0rd.
  2. Refresh the Start menu
    (1) Sign out of Windows 10. (2) Sign-in as CORP\Mark with a password of Passw0rd. 
  3. Review the locked Start menu groups
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) Click Start. (3) Review the Life at a glance group. (4) Review the Play and explore group.
    You can see that the layout of the Start menu on WIN10-03 has changed. The Life at a glance and Play and explore groups are locked (you will see a padlock icon by the name of the group), and users cannot customize them.
    Notice that the unnamed group that contained the Sticky Notes UWP app was removed from the Start menu: this is expected behavior. When you remove a group that you previously managed in your .xml file, that group is removed from targeted devices.
  4. Try to customize locked Start menu groups
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) If necessary, click Start. (3) In the Life at a glance group, try to unpin Skype Preview. (4) In the Play and Explore group, try to change the tile size for Access 2016.
    You can see that the behavior of the locked Life at a glance and Play and explore groups is exactly as before. You cannot change anything about these groups.
  5. Try to pin app to Start menu
    (1) In the Start menu, right-click Publisher 2016, and then click Pin to Start. (2) In the Start menu, right-click PowerPoint 2016, and then click Pin to Start. (3) Change the name of the group where you pinned the new apps to My favorite apps. (4) Review the Knowledge box.
    You can see that you’re able to pin the Publisher 2016 and PowerPoint 2016 apps to the Start menu, but in a new, unnamed Start menu group. Users can customize the layout of the unmanaged (unlocked) groups just as they did before, but they’re still unable to modify a locked group.

    You can also change the name of the group where you pinned the new apps. Again, the user has complete control over this group of pinned apps.

    Partial Start menu layout gives you the best of both worlds: centralized management of the Start menu tiles that you care about but also allowing users to customize the remainder of the Start menu to their liking.
In this exercise, you verified the partial Start menu layout customization that you created earlier in this lab. First, you signed out and back in to the device to refresh the Start menu. You verified that your customized partial Start menu layout was applied to the device. Finally, you saw that users are able to modify the Start menu because you deployed a partial Start layout.

Exercise 8 : Add taskbar layout to Start menu layout

By now you might be asking, “What about taskbars, how can I customize them?” You can use the same XML format to manage taskbar layout, but taskbars are more simplistic than the Start menu. All you can specify on the taskbar is the order of the pinned apps.
  1. Sign in to DC
    (1) Switch to DC by clicking the Switch to Machine icon to the right, next to the Done button. (2) If necessary, sign in to DC as Mark Hassall (CORP\Mark) with a password of Passw0rd.
  2. Review TaskbarLayout.xml in XMLNotepad
    (1) In File Manager, double-click D:\Source$\Layout\TaskbarLayout.xml. (2) In XMLNotepad, in the Tree View pane, go to LayoutModificationTemplate > CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection > defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout > taskbar:TaskbarPinList. (3) In the Tree View pane, expand the taskbar:UWA node. (4) In the Tree View pane, expand the taskbar:DesktopApp node. (5) Review the Knowledge box. (6) Click the Screenshot icon to the left to review the illustration of how the taskbar icons are arranged.
    You can see that the taskbar .xml file structure (schema) is similar to what you saw in the Start menu layout .xml file. The taskbar:UWA and taskbar:DesktopApp nodes correspond to the pinned UWP app and Windows desktop apps. From the list, you can see that Microsoft Edge (the UWP app) will be pinned first. Next will be File Manager, and then Microsoft Word 2016, Excel 2016, and PowerPoint 2016 (in that order).

    In the screenshot associated with this task, the blue circles represent the default Windows apps, the orange triangles represent the apps pinned by the user, and the green squares represent the apps that are pinned in the .xml file. This means that all the apps you pin in the .xml file will always be on the right side of the taskbar in the order you specified them in the .xml file.
  3. Review Start-Taskbar-Layout.xml in Notepad
    (1) In File Manager, right-click D:\Source$\Layout\Start-Taskbar-Layout.xml, and then click Open with > Notepad. (2) Review the Knowledge box.  (3) In Notepad, review the StartLayoutCollection node. (4) In Notepad, review the CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection node. (5) Close Notepad.
    If you look at the StartLayoutCollection and CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection nodes, you can see that the file is a merging of the XML you saw in the PartialStartLayout.xml and TaskbarLayout.xml files, which allows you to deploy one .xml file that contains the configuration for the Start menu and taskbar.
  4. Copy new Start menu layout XML file
    (1) Review the Knowledge box. (2) In File Manager, delete D:\Source$\Layout\StartLayout.xml. (3) In File Manager, copy D:\Source$\Layout\ Start-Taskbar-Layout.xml to D:\Source$\Layout\StartLayout.xml.
    Prior to the lab, the Start-Taskbar-Layout.xml file was created as a combination of the PartialStartLayout.xml and TaskbarLayout.xml files.

    You are replacing the StartLayout.xml file that you created earlier in the lab with theStart-Taskbar-Layout.xml file so that you don’t need to change Group Policy settings. Otherwise, you would need to configure the Group Policy settings to use the Start-Taskbar-Layout.xml file instead of the StartLayout.xml file.
In this exercise, you reviewed the schema of the taskbar layout .xml file. Next, you reviewed an .xml file that contains the Start menu and taskbar layout merged into one .xml file. Finally, you removed the StartLayout.xml file and copied theStart-Taskbar-Layout.xml file to the StartLayout.xml file. Now, you’re ready to verify the results of the merged .xml file on the managed device (WIN10-03).

Exercise 9 : Verify partial Start menu and taskbar layout

In this exercise, you verify the partial Start menu and taskbar layout on a device (WIN10-03). You visually verify that the locked Start menu groups cannot be changed. You also verify that you can customize the Start menu group that contains the Sticky Notes app. You won’t need to update Group Policy settings because you overwrote the .xml file, which required no changes to the Group Policy settings.
  1. Sign-in to WIN10-03
    (1) Switch to WIN10-03 by clicking the Switch to Machine icon to the right, next to the Done button. (2) Sign in to WIN10-03 as Mark Hassall (CORP\Mark) with a password of Passw0rd.
  2. Refresh the Start menu
    (1) Sign out of Windows 10. (2) Sign-in as CORP\Mark with a password of Passw0rd. 
  3. Review the locked Start menu groups
    (1) Click Start. (2) Review the Life at a glance group. (3) Review the Play and explore group. (4) Review the Knowledge box. 
    You can see that the layout of the Start menu on WIN10-03 is the same as it was before. The locked groups are identical to when you verified earlier in the apps
  4. Review customized Start menu groups
    (1) If necessary, click Start. (2) Review the My favorite apps group. (3) Review the Knowledge box. 
    You can see that the My favorite apps group you created earlier in the lab behaves as before. The customizations the user made are retained after you apply the new Start menu and taskbar layout.
  5. Review taskbar
    (1) On the taskbar, review the pinned apps. (2) Review the Knowledge box.
    The taskbar layout is as expected. The Windows default apps (Microsoft Edge, File Explorer, and Store) are pinned to the left side of the taskbar. The user-pinned apps (Windows PowerShell ISE) appear immediately after the default Windows apps. The apps you specified (Word 2016, Excel 2016, and PowerPoint 2016) are pinned immediately after the user pinned apps. Also notice that the order of Word 2016, Excel 2016, and PowerPoint 2016 is the same as they appear in the .xml file.

    You might remember that the .xml file explicitly specified Microsoft Edge and File Explorer immediately before Word 2016, Excel 2016, and PowerPoint 2016. So, why aren’t those apps pinned on the left side of the task bar? They’re pinned there because they were already pinned as default Windows apps. When Windows 10 processes the .xml file, if an app is already pinned (either as a default Windows app or a user-pinned app), the app is skipped and not pinned again.
In this exercise, you verified the partial Start menu and taskbar layout customization that you created earlier in this lab. First, you signed out and back in to the device to refresh the Start menu. You verified that your customized layout was applied to the device. Finally, you saw that the managed, locked Start menu groups behaved as before. You also saw that the user-customized Start group behaved as before. Finally, you saw that the taskbar layout matches the configuration you specified in the .xml file.

Click Continue to finish and close this lab.
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