Receiving Device Freeze Message

Thanks JOcean for your reply.

The company name shown in the Device Freeze Screen does not operate in my country, and I believe I will never be in a position to have them unlock the device. The party sold me the system as a used laptop, so they will not accept any warranty claims too.

Regarding your diagnosis of a possible Computrace issue, can you please give me more details on how can I check it? As per my understanding, Computrace is a service that allows one to remotely disable laptops. How can I check if Computrace is activated/enabled on my laptop? And if Computrace is activated, how can I deactivate/disable it?

Regards

Have you tried to contact the company in question and have them unlock the device? It may be a Computrace issue as well but either way either contact the company in question or go back to the party that sold you the system. 

Thanks ejn63 for your reply.

Replacing the system board is a very expensive solution. Can't I disable Computrace in BIOS on my own? I can still access the BIOS setup and I can also install a fresh/clean copy of Windows 10. If you tell me the relevant BIOS options, then I can check on my end.

Since Device Freeze appears to work with Computrace technology, if you can't have the system unfrozen through normal channels, you will need to add the cost of a replacement system board to what you paid for the system.

I checked the BIOS setup of Dell Latitude E6430. 

Under Security -> Computrace(R), there are three options:

1. Deactivate

2. Disable

3. Activate

Activate is selected at present.

At the bottom of this screen, there are three buttons; 1) Load Defaults 2) Apply 3) Exit. Apply button is not enabled.

The description reads:

Deactivate = The Computrace module interface is not active

Disable = Permanently block the Computrace module interface

Activate = Permit the Computrace module interface

It further mentions that Absolute solution is Activated.

I also checked Security -> Admin Password and Security -> System Password.

In both cases, it shows:

Enter the old password = Not Set

Same Issue 


i already formatted this twice and it gets back after several hours i cant use my PC 

Did you check Security -> Computrace(R) in your Laptop's BIOS setup?

If Computrace is activated, then your device will freeze again and again, as mentioned by the experts here.

If you are able to change Computrace from Activate to Deactivate in BIOS, then your issue will be resolved. In my case, changing Activate to Deactivate is disabled.

I have found some more details regarding the issue that I thought to share in this forum.

There is a file rpcnetp.exe at the following location on my laptop:

Windows/System32

When I view Services tab on Task Manager on my laptop, rpcnetp service is shown as Running.

If this file is present and the service is Running, it means Computrace is present in the laptop.

In the Task Manager, I stopped the service rpcnetp. Then I deleted rpcnetp.exe from System32 directory. After that I can connect to the internet and use the laptop. However, rpcnetp.exe re-installs at each reboot. Therefore, rpcnetp service should be stopped and then the file should be deleted every morning before connecting to the internet, If you delete rpcnetp.exe before connecting to the internet, you will be safe. But if you forgot one day, and rpcnetp.exe was successful in connecting to Absolute, you may see the Device Freeze message again.

Hi shehzaddeveloper, How are you doing on this incident? I have exactly the same problem as you.

Hello n4nof,

In my case, CompuTrace is still activated on my laptop, and I have not been able to get rid of it.

However, the workaround that I mentioned in my above posts has enabled me to use my laptop. I proceeded as follows:

1. Performed a fresh, new installation of Windows 10.

2. Now, whenever I log in to the laptop, I make sure that I am not connected to the internet upon login. It means that the WiFis whose passwords are saved on my laptop should not be on when I log in.

3. Upon login, I go to Task Manager and click the Services tab. Then I stop the service rpcnetp if it is not already stopped.

4. Then I go to C:/Windows/System32 and check for the file rpcnetp.exe. If the file is present, then I delete it.

5. After performing these steps, I connect the computer to the internet.

These steps do not deactivate or disable the Computrace option. However, these steps prevent Computrace from executing itself.

I have read on YouTube and blog articles that some people claim they can remove CompuTrace for a fee. However, since I have purchased a used laptop, I did not find it feasible to pay any amount for disabling or deactivating the Computrace option.

Hello @shehzaddeveloper,

I'm doing exactly the steps you've detailed, and all is well. Thank you for being patient and willing to answer me. 

Along with your advice, I add an alternative that I am doing, faster, is: put to sleep the laptop/pc (not shut down), instead of turning it off. When you put (the laptop/pc) to sleep, and turn it back on, services "rpcnetp.exe" will already be disabled.

p.d.: chek it: https://securelist.com/absolute-computrace-revisited/58278/

I found a way to by pass the power on freeze menu. As soon as the computer shows the Dell logo for logging on, start pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the task manager and then quickly locate the rcpnet.exe file in running programs. Locate it's folder, end the process, then delete it in the sys32 folder. Delete it in the recycle bin too. 

@Vianney Kazibwe​ I tried this but the screen won't show a taskbar, instead opens up and shows the device freeze page then automatically opens up my account and signs out of it ,then stays on the device freeze page. 

Program the bios without service tag

@shehzaddeveloper hola cómo estás, hice lo que dices pero en administrador de tareas no me aparece ese archivo en sistema ni en ningún lado para detenerlo el archivo rpcnetp que otra cosa puedo hacer ?