Note: Without a complete uninstallation you may not be able to reinstall Deep Freeze on your system.
What we are going to do is edit the registry and delete the startup references to Deep Freeze. This will prevent the Deep Freeze driver from starting up the next time you boot. (c:\windows\system32\drivers\deepfrz.sys)
1. First we need a way to edit the registry. The way to do this depends on your situation. If your computer is thawed you can simply use Regedit. If your computer is frozen or if it doesn't boot you'll need to find another way.
Here are some alternatives:
If you have a multiboot computer with another copy of Windows 2K/XP you can boot from there. Or, you can physically mount the disk on another computer that uses Windows 2K/XP.
You will probably use a tool that lets you boot and edit the registry. A good example of this is PE Builder that lets you build a Windows PE CD and boot Windows from there. Or use Bart's, http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ or Winternals ERD Commander. There are several, including some USB memory sticks capable of booting like a CD. The goal here is to boot separately from your hard drive and access it while it is "asleep".
2. If your computer is thawed run Regedit. If it's not thawed follow one of the alternatives described above, and run Regedit (or Regedt32 on Windows 2K).
3. On the Find dialog box type UpperFilters and check only the Values checkbox. Then click Find Next.
4. The program will find a value with the name UpperFilters. Open this value and if there's a line with the name of the Deep Freeze driver (DeepFrz or DepFrzLo) delete it including the return, leaving the rest of the lines intact. Also, if you are using ThawSpace and you want to get rid of it delete that line too (ThwSpace), if you want to keep the ThawSpace leave it there. Press F3 to find the next match and repeat the operation until you have fixed all the UpperFilters values inside the HKLM\MySystem key.
5. Navigate to HKLM\MySystem\Select and check the value with the name Default. It has the number of the control set key that the system will use when booted. If it is 1 the control set is ControlSet001, if it is 2 the control set is ControlSet002, and so on. We'll assume the control set is ControlSet001 but you should use the one specified by the value Default.
6. Now go to HKLM\MySystem\ControlSet001\Services and delete the keys with the name of the Deep Freeze drivers (DeepFrz or DepFrzLo and DepFrzHi). Also, if you decided to get rid of the ThawSpace delete the key with the name of the ThawSpace driver (ThwSpace).
7. That's it. Now reboot and Deep Freeze will not load.
QUESTION: What if the BIOS settings prevent me from booting from CD or USB? Answer: Deep Freeze prevents you from decrypting the BIOS password, but it does not prevent removing it, if you have the right tool! Most of the BIOS hacking programs will not work to remove the BIOS password on a Deep Freeze protected computer, but CmosPwd by Christophe Grenier does.
You'll need to know how to use a command line and install the driver. Yes, it uses a driver to remove the BIOS password. But it works, even on Deep Freeze protected computers. Use CmosPwd to remove the BIOS password and reset the default BIOS settings. Then you'll be able to boot from CD or USB and edit your computer's registry and remove the DeepFrz, DepFrzLo, and DepFrzHi references which start Deep Freeze.
Now here is a little known secret: Faronics (the makers of Deep Freeze) uses a special driver to remove broken or malicious Deep Freeze installations. They do not have any backdoor passwords, so they use a special driver to remove a Deep Freeze installation where the password is not known or that someone is having trouble with. Will they send it to you, or even admit to you that they have it? I don't know. But, even if you do have it, you will still have to boot separately from the hard drive and replace the existing Deep Freeze driver with the special one and reboot. And after that, you need to use a Deep Freeze installation file to fully uninstall Deep Freeze (it will be thawed when you boot up with the special driver). If you want to re-install Deep Freeze, you'll have to first delete the special driver too.
Only a few people have this driver. It is the only solution Faronics has for those who need to remove Deep Freeze without the password. And, like I said, you will have to be able to boot from CD or USB and access the NTFS hard drive. If the boot-up order is locked (hard drive first and only) in BIOS settings, use CmosPwd to reset BIOS and boot order. Then you can boot from CD or USB.
Booting from CD or USB and removing the registry references works also, but then you should uninstall Deep Freeze with an installation file once you are able to boot thawed.
If you are dealing with a trial version of Deep Freeze, just forward the BIOS date past 60 days and then restart.
If anyone is wondering if Deep Freeze has ever been hacked, the answer is "yes" it has, several times over the years. Most of the time these were weaknesses that Faronics was able to quickly fix or prevent. However, there was one hacker that really, REALLY gave them headaches. His name was Emiiano Scavuzzo from Argentina. He was really good at low level programming and used OllyDbg to come up with about five versions of his "Deep Unfreezer" which gave Faronics their greatest challenge to date. Deep Unfreezer now only works on older versions of Deep Freeze.
Faronics is doing very, very well right now (as of 2008). They sold Apple Computer their Mac version of Deep Freeze, which, if you know how to look for it in the Applications folder on a Mac, is used in all the Apple Stores on both their desktops and their laptops. So, if you're ever in a Mac store playing around with PhotoBooth or whatever, and the computer settings are all messed up, just restart the Mac and thank Deep Freeze.
Source
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
How To Uninstall Deep Freeze From A Computer
Deep Freeze uninstall is one easy but tricky thing to do and even
sometime requires long procedure. Many people who install it in their
computers find it difficult to uninstall. The simple truth is that the
file is never among the files in the Add/Remove of your control panel.
So trying to do it from the Add/Remove in your control panel is not
going to be possible, even when you are able to locate the file in you
computer at C:\Program Files\HyperTechnologies\Deep Freeze, you are
still not going to be able to delete the file from your computer.
(a)
If you have difficulty with basic uninstall follow the steps below:
STEP I:
First of all depress CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+F6 (if you cannot locate your deep freeze on your system tray). Depress SHIFT and double click on the icon on your system (if you can locate the deep freeze icon on the system tray).
STEP II:
Enter the password you provided at the time of installation, click Thaw, click apply and reboot your system.
STEP III:
After reboot, get the Cd that you used in installing the deep freeze in your computer. If you can't get the CD handy, locate the executable file at C:\Program Files\HyperTechnologies\Deep Freeze . You can also Google on the version of deep freeze installed in your system to re-install it. If you are told there is current product installed on your system ignore it to continue and repeat the steps aforementioned above.
STEP IV:
Load the CD (if only you have it or burn your version downloaded online to a CD) or located executable file upon double clicking on it and the installation wizard will come up. Tick uninstall and click OK. The computer will ask you to restart your system for changes to take place. Click restart to complete the process.
(b)
If you are using the Deep Freeze standard Evaluation version you can do this to uninstall it:
STEP I:
Go to you BIOS setup and put the date to 60 days ahead of time. * If your system BIOS is password protect - you can get password ready for this to be possible.
STEP II:
Save and Exit your BIOS setup and your deep freeze will instantly be Thawed.
STEP III:
Click Start --> Search -->type DF5Serv on the search-bar or whatever version you are using and click OK ( when you could not locate the file in your hard disk). Double click on the executable file DF5Serv and follow the uninstall wizard instruction to uninstall it . If you can locate the executable file simply double-click on it and follow the wizard instruction to uninstall it.
(c)
The Deep Freeze does require thawing before you can go about your uninstall. If you forgot the password and you are using the full version, it is advisable to follow this step carefully.
This one is a whole hell of challenge to attempt by going to you Registry Editor to do the necessary deleting of files. Please, be very careful not to do anything stupid here because this part controls how your system and applications are carried out.
Before anything go to your BIOS and date it to 5 years into the future.
STEP I:
Go to START -- >Run .
STEP II:
Type regedit and click OK to open the Registry Editor. Please, do not anything silly if you aren't familiar with the registry. In Window Xp and other Windows versions the regedit is the same hierarchy, something like the following :
(a) [+] HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
(b) [+] HKEY_CURRENT_USER
(c) [+] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
(d) [+] HKEY_USERS
(e) [+] HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
STEP III:
Simply click (c) [+] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and click SYSTEM --> a sub-menus will appear. In the sub-menus click ControlSet001 -->Services---> DepFrzHi(Rightclick on it and delete this file)-->DepFrzLo(Right lick on it and delete this file)-->DFServEx(This is the deep freeze executable file. Rightclick on it and delete this file).
STEP IV:
At (c) [+] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -->SYSTEM-->ControlSet003-->Services-->DepFrzHi(rightclick on it and delete this file)-->DepfrzLo(Rightclick on it and delete this file)-->DFServEx(This is the executable file. Rightclick on it and delete this file).
STEP V:
Do the same thing to (c) [+] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE--SYSTEM-->CurrentControlSet--> Services-->DepFrzHi (Rightclick on it and delete this file)-->DepfrzLo(Rightclick on it and delete thif file). Next one is DepFrzHi(Rightclick on it and delete this file) and --> DFServEx(This is the deep freeze executable file.Right click on it and delete this file).
STEP VI:
After finishing with the processes above, click File at the top left corner of you Registry Editor and go to exit to close the it. It`s generally right to restart your computer. When you restart your computer the Deep Freeze will be gone.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Attention: Don`t use the task manager to delete the file DFServEx.exe , DF5ServEx .exe or DF6Serve. exe (Usually file for Deep Freeze versions) because it can cause system slow down , delete it and your system will continuously to reboot at the window screen or cannot delete the file altogether.
________________________________________________________________________________
Side note for those who are interested in knowing more about Deep freeze:
-------Even the very version 6 can be removed from your computer. All you need do is to understand how deep freeze uses the window operating system files mostly the dll extension files(direct-link library). If you want to see those files used by deep freeze simply go to your DOS or Dot prompt and use edit command: type edit DF6ServExe.exe and press enter. The editor will display it in ASCII yet, the windows dll extension files will remain in their original forms. These are the files used by deep freeze to hold on strongly to your system, when it usually says access denied . There`s still a way to get it fix. After finishing with the deleting of files in the registry editor as prescribed above by me download a deep freeze unfreeze from Google and you can easily unfreeze the version 6 now and go about removing it from your system by using version 6 disk or locate the executable file and run it.Click on uninstall and the computer will immediately reboot for changes to take place ---------
* Note that CMOS reset would not change anything regarding password protection.
(a)
If you have difficulty with basic uninstall follow the steps below:
STEP I:
First of all depress CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+F6 (if you cannot locate your deep freeze on your system tray). Depress SHIFT and double click on the icon on your system (if you can locate the deep freeze icon on the system tray).
STEP II:
Enter the password you provided at the time of installation, click Thaw, click apply and reboot your system.
STEP III:
After reboot, get the Cd that you used in installing the deep freeze in your computer. If you can't get the CD handy, locate the executable file at C:\Program Files\HyperTechnologies\Deep Freeze . You can also Google on the version of deep freeze installed in your system to re-install it. If you are told there is current product installed on your system ignore it to continue and repeat the steps aforementioned above.
STEP IV:
Load the CD (if only you have it or burn your version downloaded online to a CD) or located executable file upon double clicking on it and the installation wizard will come up. Tick uninstall and click OK. The computer will ask you to restart your system for changes to take place. Click restart to complete the process.
(b)
If you are using the Deep Freeze standard Evaluation version you can do this to uninstall it:
STEP I:
Go to you BIOS setup and put the date to 60 days ahead of time. * If your system BIOS is password protect - you can get password ready for this to be possible.
STEP II:
Save and Exit your BIOS setup and your deep freeze will instantly be Thawed.
STEP III:
Click Start --> Search -->type DF5Serv on the search-bar or whatever version you are using and click OK ( when you could not locate the file in your hard disk). Double click on the executable file DF5Serv and follow the uninstall wizard instruction to uninstall it . If you can locate the executable file simply double-click on it and follow the wizard instruction to uninstall it.
(c)
The Deep Freeze does require thawing before you can go about your uninstall. If you forgot the password and you are using the full version, it is advisable to follow this step carefully.
This one is a whole hell of challenge to attempt by going to you Registry Editor to do the necessary deleting of files. Please, be very careful not to do anything stupid here because this part controls how your system and applications are carried out.
Before anything go to your BIOS and date it to 5 years into the future.
STEP I:
Go to START -- >Run .
STEP II:
Type regedit and click OK to open the Registry Editor. Please, do not anything silly if you aren't familiar with the registry. In Window Xp and other Windows versions the regedit is the same hierarchy, something like the following :
(a) [+] HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
(b) [+] HKEY_CURRENT_USER
(c) [+] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
(d) [+] HKEY_USERS
(e) [+] HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
STEP III:
Simply click (c) [+] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and click SYSTEM --> a sub-menus will appear. In the sub-menus click ControlSet001 -->Services---> DepFrzHi(Rightclick on it and delete this file)-->DepFrzLo(Right lick on it and delete this file)-->DFServEx(This is the deep freeze executable file. Rightclick on it and delete this file).
STEP IV:
At (c) [+] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -->SYSTEM-->ControlSet003-->Services-->DepFrzHi(rightclick on it and delete this file)-->DepfrzLo(Rightclick on it and delete this file)-->DFServEx(This is the executable file. Rightclick on it and delete this file).
STEP V:
Do the same thing to (c) [+] HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE--SYSTEM-->CurrentControlSet--> Services-->DepFrzHi (Rightclick on it and delete this file)-->DepfrzLo(Rightclick on it and delete thif file). Next one is DepFrzHi(Rightclick on it and delete this file) and --> DFServEx(This is the deep freeze executable file.Right click on it and delete this file).
STEP VI:
After finishing with the processes above, click File at the top left corner of you Registry Editor and go to exit to close the it. It`s generally right to restart your computer. When you restart your computer the Deep Freeze will be gone.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Attention: Don`t use the task manager to delete the file DFServEx.exe , DF5ServEx .exe or DF6Serve. exe (Usually file for Deep Freeze versions) because it can cause system slow down , delete it and your system will continuously to reboot at the window screen or cannot delete the file altogether.
________________________________________________________________________________
Side note for those who are interested in knowing more about Deep freeze:
-------Even the very version 6 can be removed from your computer. All you need do is to understand how deep freeze uses the window operating system files mostly the dll extension files(direct-link library). If you want to see those files used by deep freeze simply go to your DOS or Dot prompt and use edit command: type edit DF6ServExe.exe and press enter. The editor will display it in ASCII yet, the windows dll extension files will remain in their original forms. These are the files used by deep freeze to hold on strongly to your system, when it usually says access denied . There`s still a way to get it fix. After finishing with the deleting of files in the registry editor as prescribed above by me download a deep freeze unfreeze from Google and you can easily unfreeze the version 6 now and go about removing it from your system by using version 6 disk or locate the executable file and run it.Click on uninstall and the computer will immediately reboot for changes to take place ---------
* Note that CMOS reset would not change anything regarding password protection.
