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johnny
Asked: 2014-07-30 07:09:33 +0800 CST

How can I pin an Internet Explorer URL shortcut or favorite to the Start screen with Group Policy in Windows 8.1?

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I created my Start UI like I want and used this PowerShell cmdlet to create the .xml file for a user's default layout:

export-startlayout –path <path><file name>.xml -as xml

(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn467928.aspx)

It created an AppID for each shortcut to a URL in the xml file.

Those AppIDs are not consistent across machines (I tried it).

How can I add shortcuts to my Start UI in Windows 8.1 Pro with the layout xml file?

I put the xml file here. It works great but no shortcuts.

*Administrative Templates / Start Menu and Task bar / Start Screen Layout*
group-policy

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    From my tests, the physical shortcut file needs to exist in the following path for it to display on the start screen:

    %homeshare%\start menu\Programs\

    Like you, I couldn't find a way of archiving this using "Export-startlayout".

    Instead what I've done is put the shortcuts I want deployed in the GPT part of a GPO, I've then created a simply ROBOCOPY command to copy them to the start menu directory on login.

    Example:

    \domain.local\SysVol\tamar.local\Policies{F0C57572-7D16-49BC-8B4B-C8ABD9A363CB}\User\Scripts\Logon\ "%homeshare%\Start Menu\Programs" " webmail.url

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