QUESTION :
I would like to apply multiple changes to several windows 10 machines.
Some of these changes are regarding user accounts, others are more presentation and windows definitions changes.
For example, I want all computers to:
- have the same lock screen image,
- automatically lock the computer after X minutes of inactivity,
- add a specific admin user to all machines,
- pin some application icons to the desktop,
- change the action bar next to the clock to always expand icons,
- create a restore point.
These settings need to be applied to 8 workstations, and I would rather have a script to replicate this across all machines than to do this manually in each of them. I would like to know how I can do this. Is there some reference where I can look to know what commands need to be issued, so I can build a bat file or a powershell script to run all of this?
Besides this, I would like to rename a user account, changing the user name and having the folder for that user being moved to the new name. Does the user folder get moved if the account is renamed? Can this be done? What is the impact of this, besides the possibility of some applications stopping to work correctly due to path changes?
ANSWER :
When you want to manage machines like this I would recommend to use Windows GPOs. To Do this they have to be member of a Domain.
If this is not possible for you then you will need to execue the Script on each machine because the remote Powershell is not enabled by default on Client Windows OS.
I would recommend to use Powershell for the named Tasks.
For some of this there exist commands like create or change users and for some you will just need to change some registry entry’s.
so I can build a bat file or a powershell script to run all of this? YES
It is possible to create such a script.
Does the user folder get moved if the account is renamed? YES
Can this be done? YES
What is the impact of this, besides the possibility of some applications stopping to work correctly due to path changes?
There can allways be side effects if a applications saves the patch or something. I would recommend to delete the Profile and create it new.