Registry (default user)

What it does

Writes registry entries into the Windows Default User profile — the template Windows copies for every new account. That means every new user created on the machine inherits the settings, including the first user who signs in after Autopilot OOBE.

This is something Intune can't do: Intune can only write per-user settings for users who already exist. This step seeds the defaults before anyone logs in — it loads the Default User profile, writes the entries, and unloads it cleanly.

Options

Option	What it controls
Registry entries	A list of per-user entries, each a key, value name, type and value. Required.

Good to know

• Common uses: show file extensions and hidden files in Explorer, suppress app first-run wizards, set regional format defaults, apply Edge/Chrome defaults.
• Verifying it worked goes beyond "the profile loaded": provision a machine, sign in as a brand-new user, and confirm the setting is present in that user's HKCU — because the whole point is that new users inherit it.
• For device-wide settings that aren't per-user, use Registry (HKLM).
• If an entry can't be written, the setup stops by default.

Part of the step catalogue.