1. A system for configuring a parent virtual machine (VM) template before instantiating child VMs therefrom to prevent rebooting the child VMs during customization, said system comprising: memory associated with a computing device, said memory storing a plurality of parent VM templates; and a processor programmed to: receive, by the computing device, a request to provision a plurality of desktop VMs, the request identifying one of the plurality of parent VM templates; in response to the received request, create a clone VM from the identified parent VM template; attach one or more disks to the created clone VM; power on the clone VM with the attached one or more disks; customize the clone VM to redirect data to the attached disks; instantiate the plurality of desktop VMs from the customized clone VM; and apply a VM configuration to at least one of the instantiated plurality of desktop VMs without rebooting the at least one of the instantiated plurality of desktop VMs.