Is there any difference between creating a user interactively vs. via autounattend?

[tortadefrango97]

I’m back dealing with an issue I posted about a while ago in this post. Edge keeps popping up and launching on its own right after user creation. But now it’s gotten worse because the popup is even bigger... and this only happens on Windows 10.

I noticed something weird: if I skip user creation in the autounattend file and just do it manually through OOBE, Edge doesn't auto-launch and the popup doesn't show up.


However, if I use the autounattend to automate the user creation, the popup triggers and Edge starts by itself.



The same thing happens if I create a second user, regardless of how the first one was set up (OOBE or autounattend).

I'm curious: does the autounattend process handle user creation differently than the interactive way? It’s like it triggers the same "new user" flag that adding a second account does, whereas the manual OOBE setup somehow bypasses that Edge trigger.

I’ve found two workarounds, but honestly, neither is ideal:

1. Using the HideFirstRunExperience policy: This works, but it adds that "Managed by your organization" message, which is annoying for end-users who won't get why it's there.
2. Dropping a blank 'First Run' file into the Default User folder (C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data): This kills the popup, but the downside is that Edge ends up ignoring the initial_preferences file.

Anyway, if anyone knows a better way to handle this, I’d appreciate the help!