Believe it or not, 80% of "pending activation" cases are solved by a single restart.

: In some Cloud-based troubleshooting scenarios, disabling Secure Boot in the BIOS may be necessary to resolve persistent communication or policy assignment issues.

For environments without reliable Internet connectivity, offline activation is available:

by Faronics is the gold standard for system restoration software. Used in millions of public computers, school labs, libraries, and kiosks worldwide, it provides "absolute protection" by freezing a computer's desired configuration. When a user reboots, any changes made during the session—whether malware, unwanted software, or accidental deletions—vanish like they never happened.

If a machine persistently shows "pending activation new" despite perfect network conditions, the local licensing files may be corrupted. A clean reinstallation is required.

Although less common, incorrect system date and time settings can prevent activation by causing certificate validation failures or making activation appear invalid. If your activation fails with license validity errors, verify that:

If a workstation remains in a "Pending" state, you can use several methods to force activation: :

The workstation’s date and time vary significantly from the actual time, causing secure SSL/TLS handshakes to fail. How to Resolve "Deep Freeze Pending Activation"

Deep Freeze requires an active line of communication to validate licenses. If the client computer sits behind a restrictive corporate firewall, a proxy server, or a strict VLAN configuration, it may fail to reach the secure web endpoints hosted by Faronics. 3. Outdated Software Builds

A machine was working fine (Frozen), then Windows Update installed a new "Feature Update" (e.g., 22H2 to 23H2). Now it says "pending activation new." Cause: Windows Feature Updates rewrite the Boot Configuration Data (BCD). Deep Freeze sees this as a "new" boot environment. Solution: You must reinstall Deep Freeze after major Windows feature updates. Plan for this in your maintenance cycles.

By understanding the interaction between Deep Freeze’s bootloader and Windows’ shutdown process, you can turn a frustrating "pending" error into a non-event in your daily IT management routine.

Did this happen to a or a large batch of new deployments ?

It usually indicates that the initial "handshake" between the local machine and the Faronics Activation Server failed or was not completed. Primary Causes of Pending Activation 1. Lack of Internet Connectivity

Work with your network security team to establish Deep Freeze communication rules in your core firewall before rolling out software upgrades. To help tailor this advice, let me know:

You can trigger activation through the or locally at the workstation. Online Activation (Recommended) : Ensure the computer has an active internet connection.

If the workstation lacks internet access, you must generate an from the activation screen.

To understand the error, you must first understand how Deep Freeze transitions between states.