10 | Install Deep Freeze Windows

The machine came back clean. Desktop pristine. Green wallpaper gone. The junk folder had vanished like it never existed.

One final restart. This time, the boot screen showed: .

Step 4: The final thawed boot

She pulled a USB drive from her bag. On it: .

The installer asked which drives to freeze. She selected only. The D: (ThawSpace) she left unfrozen. She also checked the box: Boot Thawed on Next – this would let her apply final updates before the final freeze. install deep freeze windows 10

The computer rebooted. On startup, a small polar bear icon appeared in the system tray. Right-clicking showed: .

Step 5: Locking the state

Tomorrow was the final exam for CIS 220. If even one student accidentally installed a toolbar, changed a setting, or—God forbid—downloaded something malicious, the whole exam would crash. Lena couldn't let that happen. Not again.

Step 6: Exam day

Step 1: Preparation

First, she logged into the master machine with local admin rights. She uninstalled bloatware, set the desktop background to the university logo, and disabled USB auto-run. She defragmented the SSD—not strictly necessary, but she was a perfectionist. Then she created a "ThawSpace" on the D: drive. This small, 20 GB partition would remain writable even when frozen, so students could save their exam files. The machine came back clean