Deep Freeze 7.5 released

Faronics released Deep Freeze 7.5, which provides full workstation protection by “freezing’ the computer’s configuration and preventing accidental or malicious damage with every reboot. The reboot-to-restore approach prevents unwanted or unwelcome changes from sticking, ultimately reducing IT support and callout costs.

The new version simplifies scheduled Windows updates by caching downloads when the computer is in a Frozen state, ready to apply the updates during a Thawed time and optionally shutting down the workstation to conserve power once updates haves been installed.

For added security, this version also includes advanced protection of the Master Boot Record.

“Typically, Windows updates are timed to take place during a Thawed period, when Deep Freeze protection is off, often late at night,” said Heman Mehta, the Deep Freeze product manager. “However, this required IT managers to be able to estimate how long the updates would take, so Deep Freeze protection could be timely reactivated. With Deep Freeze 7.5, Windows updates are cached when the computer is Frozen; allowing organizations to stagger downloads and improve bandwidth utilization.”

In addition to Windows Update enhancements and MBR protection, new features and end-user benefits include:

• Support for Hard Drives larger than 2 TB
• Workstation Task Summary – at a glance view of what tasks are scheduled to run on the workstation
• Removal of WSUS Restrictions – all updates downloaded from the WSUS will now be installed on the workstation
• Port Exceptions for Enterprise Console – communication ports for Deep Freeze no longer need to be manually configured
• Deep Freeze MSI Packager – a new utility allowing IT Managers to convert the Deep Freeze Workstation Install Program (DFWks.exe) executable file into a Windows Installer (.MSI) file format.

“With today’s complex security landscape, it is becoming increasingly important that organizations are able to install essential updates as easily and quickly as possible,” continued Mehta. “Concerns about potential security breaches are top of mind for all IT Managers as organizations are faced with the financial and reputational costs of failed security. As a result, we have taken customer feedback on board and improved our flagship product so that user experience is as straightforward as possible. “