Windows 7 Customizing and Copying Default user profile with Windows Enabler
When you make Windows 7 boxes meant for testing software, like I do, you have to make a basic machine that's ready for any kind of use. Usually you have an arsenal of software and configurations that you make to the desktop. However, as soon as the machine is used by a new tester, they create a new user which then doesn't get all that configuration you spent so much time on.
Back in the XP days, the solution to this was the Default User profile. You could set up your initial account the way you liked it, then go into the System Properties of My Computer, go to the Advanced tab to click on Settings for User Profiles, then copy your configured profile to the Default User. Actually, you had to log off the profile you wanted to copy first, then log in as a different administrator account, then do all that.
However, with Windows 7, your Copy To option for all accounts *other* than the default user is now grayed out! MS decided they didn't like or couldn't support the old feature. This causes a lot of consternation for system administrators, as I found out while I was googling a solution to the problem.
However, there is a magic little application that un-grays the button for you. Huzzah for magic! It's called "Windows Enabler" and it's described in the linked article. It's exactly the kind of simple and elegant workaround I was looking for.
