Unattended Windows Installation with Multiple Answer Files

I "image" new laptops and "reimage" used laptops multiple times a week for distribution to a company for which I am the support tech.
I use "Rufus" with the latest Windows 11 Pro ISO file to install windows on these devices - primarily to avoid bloatware from the manufacturer(s): Dell, HP, & Lenovo
My process now consists of:
1) Deleting existing partitions when prompted
a) Waiting for Windows to install
2) Answer questions posed on pages
a) Location, Language, etc.
b) Username, Password, etc.
3) Wait for default Windows desktop to display

At this point, I'm still left with numerous settings to add / modify / delete, as follows:
1) Group Policy Editor -> gpedit
a) Because these devices must be HIPAA compliant, several settings are modified here
2) Google Chrome is downloaded and set as the default browser
3) Adobe Reader is downloaded and set as the default software for PDF files
4) NordLayer VPN software is installed
5) Google Chrome's "Show Bookmarks Bar" is set to display
a) Bookmarks are imported for company approved websites
b) These same bookmarks are used to create Desktop shortcuts to same websites
6) Click on Start to view a page full of apps
a) All apps other than "Settings" are either removed or uninstalled
b) Latest apps opened (at bottom of page) are "Remove from List"

All of these steps can take 2 hours to complete.
I know about the Windows "answer files" that can be utilized to get past the opening pages during installation of the OS.
However, I'm looking for a way to complete ALL THE STEPS mentioned above. I'd like to have a configuration on a USB drive wherein I could boot up the laptop and walk away with ALL THE STEPS mentioned above completed.
I'm certainly willing to spend an inordinate amount of time to work this out if the finished product would cut down on the time I must personally spend manually performing the setup.
Am I dreaming?

It sounds to me like you might benefit from an unattended install along with an image made on a reference machine.

Put briefly, you install Windows on a "reference system" or on a VM. You install all the apps that you want. Customize all the settings you wish within Windows. When everything is where you want it, you create an image of that system. That image replaces the install.wim file on your Windows installation media. Along with the answer files, you now have everything you need to install a fully customized Windows to your systems.

I do this for some of my home PCs. From start to finish, I can have Windows installed in 15 minutes, all customized and configured how I want it.

See this tutorial for details:


If you have any questions at all, please do let me know!

To ensure I understand:
I have numerous laptops (Dell, HP, Lenovo) available that are capable of running Windows 11 Pro.
So, I use one of these to completely setup my finished config that is going to be distributed to an end user. Then, I create an image of that system which would be a .wim file. Transfer that to the installation media and I'm good to go? Given that Windows updates usually install all necessary drivers, would the same .wim file work no matter the Make / Model of the laptop?
I can think of only one thing that gets in the way. Each laptop I would image must have its unique Windows credentials. That is, Username, Password, and Computer Name would be different on each. Would I just create an "Answer" file for those pages? Because these laptops are distributed to people in the medical field, they're locked down tightly. The end user would not be in the "Administrators" group, but rather be setup in the "Power Users" group. I also setup an "Administrator" account for myself on each laptop in the event I must login remotely and perform support tasks requiring "admin" credentials. Can both accounts be setup with an "Answer" file?

There are number of ways to handle all of this. If you are installing to multiple different kinds of systems, you would install Windows using your customized image, and then install the drivers afterward. On the other hand, if you are installing to multiple systems of the same kind, then you could even preinstall the drivers so that after Windows installation all the drivers for the system will already be installed.

TIP: To make installation of drivers go faster after doing your clean install of Windows, you could do the following if Windows is already installed on a system:

1) Export all the drivers from the system. This takes only a single command like this:

pnputil /export-driver * C:\Drivers_Backup

2) Save the folder where you saved the drivers so that you can reinstall the drivers later

3) Do your clean install of Windows

4) Open Device Manager and tell it to add drivers, point to saved drivers

The above procedure will install ALL of the system divers in one shot.

As for the user accounts, you can modify the Answer file before running it on a system to change the username(s) that you create. Or you could install with the same username on each system and then simply change the username after the initial installation.

Will work on all phases of your suggestions this weekend and report back results next week.
Thanks so much!!

Sounds good. Just don't hesitate to ask questions along the way. I know that there is a lot involved here so I would be happy to help anywhere that I can.