Start IE in metro mode from script

Question

Hello,
for a kiosk setup I boot a windows 8 enterprise machine to a powershell script (by editing the "shell" registry value). The powershell script starts Internet Explorer with a start page. Users never see the start screen.
IE opens in desktop mode, but I would prefer metro mode since it is a touch device.
Is there a way to programmatically force internet explorer to open in metro look?
Thanks!
regards,
Brecht.

Answer 1

Got something.  It’s very kludgy, but it works for me. 
I’m on Win 8.1.  Feel free to adapt to your needs. 
I use Firefox as my default browser.  In short, this temporarily makes IE the default browser, swaps to Metro mode, sends keystrokes to fire up IE in Metro mode, then resets the default browser to Firefox in the background. 
Metro mode IE won’t start unless IE is set as the default browser. 
From what I have tested once open IE continues to operate normally in Metro mode even after it is no longer the default browser.
The basis is an Autohotkey script.  It makes registry changes to change the default browser. 
The registry files were derived from using Regshot from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/regshot/ to look at the before and after state of the registry when changing back and forth between IE and Firefox as the default browser. 
This was a tedious effort as Regshot outputs text files that need to be edited to match .reg file syntax. 
Feel free to make your own if desired.  This will be necessary if you want to use another browser other than Firefox as your default.
Download and install Autohotkey from http://www.autohotkey.com/
Download IE_Metro.zip from
http://www.mediafire.com/download/li1u9bc4xkksydj/IE_Metro.zip
Extract files from IE_Metro.zip to location of your choice (path_to_your_files)
Download PSTools from
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896649.aspx
Place psexec.exe from PStools into the folder with your files from IE_Metro.zip
Edit the text file IE_Metro.ahk to update with the path to your files (path_to_your_files)
If you open the Metro start screen with any other keystrokes than the “Win” key, modify the script accordingly on line 15.  See
https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/Send.htm
Compile your IE_Metro.ahk to IE_Metro.exe with Autohotkey (can right click to compile)
Make a windows shortcut to your IE_Metro.exe (drag while holding Alt key or right click)
Right click your shortcut and go to Properties, then go to Shortcut tab – Advanced and tick “Run as Administrator”
Right click the shortcut and choose “Pin to Start”.  You can also copy anywhere you would like to use it from desktop mode.
Test and enjoy! 
It might be necessary to modify the sleep delays in the Autohotkey script depending on the speed of your machine.  Besides your desktop mode shortcuts to your .exe, you’ll have one on your Metro start screen as well. Depending on your settings, you
may have to accept a UAC prompt since you're running the script as Administrator.