How do I disable the "SECURITY FREEZE LOCK" on my SATA hard disk?

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iamUK

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Mar 19, 2013
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I am sending ATA commands to SATA HDD using IOCTL_ATA_PASS_THROUGH in windows. IDENTIFY DEVICE (ECh) ATA commands returns 256 words of data.
Word 128, Bit 3 is set in the returned data, and according to ATA specs the bit denotes Device is in security frozen mode.
Because of that, ATA Security Commands are getting aborted. I tried power off/Hardware Reset as mentioned in ATA specs to disable Security Frozen mode.
But the device is stil in security frozen state. I am doubting on windows atapi / ataport driver for making HDD security frozen.

How to disable this security frozen mode?? Please Help me...
 

iamUK

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Mar 19, 2013
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Hi,
thanks for ur reply..
I am not bypassing any security thing. Since the HDD is security frozen, ATA security commands sent using IOCTL_ATA_PASS_THROUGH is getting aborted. As Windows msdn says that all commands can be sent using this ioctl, i am asking a way to send that command...
 

Chmarr

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May 10, 2013
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the SECURITY_FREEZE command is being set at some point in the boot process. This will prevent any further SECURITY-related commands being sent until the hard drive is power cycled. It is most likely your BIOS doing this. Look in your BIOS configuration. Some BIOSs do not have an option to turn this off, so you may be required to find a different computer/motherboard.
 

bsul

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Sep 4, 2014
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I had similar/same problem first I used ultimate boot cd and found that it was Seagate security freeze I could access my hard drive but could not run command prompt to run chkdsk utility telling me it was write protected and did not have the Administration rights to run it although I am the computers Administrator and had to reinstall windows 8 .
I am currently researching the problem and will notify you of any progress. (good luck )

 

bsul

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Sep 4, 2014
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Which operating system is it ? Have you tried safe mode with a system restore.
Restart your computer repeatedly tapping the f8 key to enter safe mode while the screen is black once in safe mode where the only things working will be your keyboard and mouse
allowing you to attempt to repair your computer
you could select the option start at last known configuration that worked this will tell what file has been corrupted or missing or it might be a hardware problem
then select restart if the problem still persists f8 back into safe mode you might need to select your operating system to load into safe mode
click start control panel administration tools computer management in the left panel events + to expand then system you will see all errors in

right panel right click select properties this will tell you what has occurred and the time it occurred and you might be able to work your through the problem
you might use the system restore to restore your system to an earlier time
click start all programs accessories system tools you should see your system restore option
if its a hardware problem system restore will not work
 

pavelxk

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Sep 10, 2014
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The easiest way to work around this is to hot-unplug and hot-plug the disk anytime after the bios boot completed. This is obviously easier with non-system disks. Once the security is enabled and disk is locked, then bios will not be able to freeze it anymore and you will be able to unlock and use it with another boot media. Disks generally remain unlocked until powered off, ie. through restarts.
 
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