Thanks LucD - given these are live production systems running critical data where we aren't allowed to make anything but the required changes, I'm not certain I will be able to use this method of changing the reg keys.. I'm about 99.99% positive the script won't be approved for use if requires reg edits to run successfully.
The primary reason for this script is because management already wants to us manually verify scripted changes to make sure each system has been properly configured with the current script(s) developed. What management wants is counter productive to using scripts in the first place, however, given the extremely sensitive and critical nature of the data in question, and given we are a provider that is performing these tasks at our customer sites, well, I do understand the necessity of management's requirement. We simply can't afford even a single 1 off if you know what I mean. So my intention is to try to develop a process to speed the "manual" verification up so 50+ systems can be logged into and verified quickly.
I was really hoping for a powercli script that would power on the VM with a switch that would allow a user account to automatically login, but I can't seem to find anything like that. and what I am finding is that this is typically done with reg edits.. I'm hoping there is a way where I can run a script to log a user in once the systems are up without having to edit the reg.