To customize the Start Menu in your images, you need to export a ‘reference’ Start Menu using the Export-StartLayout PowerShell cmdlet.
Export Command
Use a computer, setup the Start Menu exactly the way you want it, and then export the layout.
Export-StartLayout –path C:\LayoutModification.xml
Import Command
Now, in your imaging process, you can use the following PowerShell command to import the custom XML into the Default profile….before sysprep.
Import-StartLayout -LayoutPath c:\LayoutModification.xml -MountPath $env:SystemDrive\
Copy Command
If for some reason you have problems with that, you can just add a low level copy either before sysprep or in post setup. Note, I used the ‘Default’ path so the customized XML will be used when a new profile is generated.
copy /y c:\LayoutModification.xml “C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell”