Can you reset Windows with certain programs pre-installed?

[josiahpadula]

Hey there. I'm preparing an old laptop as a Christmas gift for someone. I'd like to reset Windows so the person receiving it can go through the initial setup, but there's a couple programs I'd like to have pre-installed for them. Really I just want Bitdefender Antivirus and Google Chrome, and to have Google Chrome set as the default browser. Is this even possible? Or is there some sort of way I could set things up how I want, then have it greet them with the welcome screen and let them make a new user after a restart or something?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

[shoutingsteve]

You can slipstream drivers and features in, but not programs to my knowledge.  Why the google package though?

[SolarNova]

Consider

https://ninite.com/

 

[josiahpadula]

Thanks shoutingsteve. I found this program NTLite that advertises being able to slipstream applications into a Windows ISO. My only concern with that is the laptop not having all the default drivers it needs for its hardware.

 

Also thanks to SolarNova for the suggestion. It seems like a cool utility, but not as automated as I was hoping for, and the selection of applications doesn't include all I need.

 

So ultimately I've decided to just reset the PC myself, make the changes I want, and forget having the recipient be greeted by the welcome screen.

[Guest]

On 12/22/2021 at 6:42 AM, josiahpadula said:

Hey there. I'm preparing an old laptop as a Christmas gift for someone. I'd like to reset Windows so the person receiving it can go through the initial setup, but there's a couple programs I'd like to have pre-installed for them. Really I just want Bitdefender Antivirus and Google Chrome, and to have Google Chrome set as the default browser. Is this even possible? Or is there some sort of way I could set things up how I want, then have it greet them with the welcome screen and let them make a new user after a restart or something?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Assuming you’re going to reset it for them then do the following

 

1. Reset Windows back to default or install from new media (using new media from MS direct will avoid any crap baked into the OEM image)
2. when you get to the account setup screen, press Control + Shift + F3. This will then put you in sysprep mode.
3. install any software you want and then when done, complete the sysprep process (will be a pop up on screen)

Just note you can only reboot 5 times in sysprep mode before you need to start again. This process is what we used to use to create images for deployment before modern things like Intune/AutoPilot became a thing.