Knowledgebase:
How do I enable or disable Deep Freeze?
Posted by Adam Zilliax on 10 February 2011 12:13 PM

One or more methods can be employed to enable/disable (Freeze/Thaw) Deep Freeze depending on the version being used.

A) Locally at the workstation (Deep Freeze Standard and Enterprise):

The following steps can be used to disable (Thaw) Deep Freeze:

  1. Hold down the SHIFT key and double-click the Deep Freeze icon. Alternatively, you can press CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+F6.  A Password dialog is displayed.
  2. Enter your password and click OK. If you have not yet entered a password you should be able to click OK without entering a password. The Boot Options dialog is displayed.
  3. Select "Boot Thawed" and click OK. This will disable Deep Freeze on the next reboot.
  4. The same steps can be used to enable (Freeze) Deep Freeze. The only change is to select "Boot Frozen" instead of “Boot Thawed”.

B) Remotely via Deep Freeze Command Line Control (Deep Freeze Enterprise only):

Deep Freeze Command Line Control (DFC.EXE) can be used to Thaw/Freeze Deep Freeze through a script or batch file. More information about using this utility can be found in the Deep Freeze Enterprise user guide available at: 
http://www.faronics.com/documents/DF6Ent_Manual.pdf

C) Remotely via the Enterprise Console (Deep Freeze Enterprise only):

The Deep Freeze Enterprise Console can be used to Thaw/Freeze a workstation using the following steps:

  1. Select the workstations to Thaw/Freeze.
  2. Click the "Reboot in Thawed state" button to Thaw the selected workstations. The workstations should reboot and appear in the Console in a Thawed state.
  3. Click the "Reboot in Frozen state" button to Freeze the selected workstations. The workstations should reboot and appear in the Console in a Frozen state.
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Comments (2)
Michael Gomez
25 March 2011 10:05 AM
Feature I would like to see: temporary thaw password. Sometimes I have technicians that NEVER refreeze a machine or a user requires thawing their machine for maintenance. I would like there to be a password (time limited, one time,or otherwise) that will only unlock the computer for 1 (2?) reboots. Then it refreezes automatically, no option, no alternative... Because I have much experience with users who 'forget' to refreeze their machines, but do turn them off or reboot daily, at which time the pc can be triggered to refreeze. ?would a new type of thawing procedure be possible in the future?? Thanks
Adam Zilliax
28 March 2011 09:37 AM
This is possible currently using the OTP feature of the Deep Freeze Enterprise product. OTP passwords are only good for a maximum of one day, or three reboots depending on what you select when you generate the password.

As well, the Enterprise Console and Core Console can both schedule events to re-freeze a workstation that has been left un-protected.