If the following settings are configured, the erasure will start and Blancco Drive Eraser / Blancco 5 will not attempt the Freeze Lock Removal (FLR) procedure:


Setup to avoid the FLR procedure:

  1. Load the Blancco Drive Eraser / Blancco 5 ISO image on the Drive Eraser Configuration Tool
  2. Open the “Security” tab *
    • Select an erasure method that does not enforce any firmware based erasure (only normal overwriting is allowed).
      • The description of the erasure methods is located in the appendices of the Blancco Drive Eraser / Blancco 5 user manual.
    • Disable “Remove Hidden Areas” option.
    • Disable “Erase Remapped Sectors” option.
    • Disable “Enforce Blancco SSD Method On SSDs” option.
  3. Open the “OS” tab
    • Ensure that the “Boot options” dropdown list is set with any value other than “FLR during startup”.
  4. Save Blancco Drive Eraser / Blancco 5 image

With these settings, the FLR procedure will be entirely skipped at boot time and will not be attempted before or during the erasure.


Any existing freeze lock(s) will remain on the drive(s):

  • As long as the selected erasure settings are not changed, the erasure process will work without a glitch.
  • Selecting other erasure settings (e.g. using the standards “Blancco SSD Erasure” or “NIST 800-88 Purge” or enabling “Erase Remapped Sectors” on a drive having remapped sectors) may trigger the FLR procedure.

Setup to disable the FLR procedure **:

  1. Load Blancco Drive Eraser ISO image on the Drive Eraser Configuration Tool
  2. Open the “OS” tab
    • In the “Booting options” dropdown list, select the value “Customized startup”.
    • On the new fields that appear below the dropdown list, select the “flr” checkbox.
    • On the dropdown list that appears to the right, select the value “disabled”.
  3. Save Blancco Drive Eraser / Blancco 5 image

With these settings, the FLR procedure will be entirely disabled and will not be attempted under any circumstance.

Any existing freeze lock(s) will remain on the drive(s):

  • Most erasure standards (doing normal overwrite) will work without a glitch.
  • Some erasure standards/options that require firmware-based erasure commands (e.g. “Blancco SSD Erasure” or “NIST 800-88 Purge” or enabling “Erase Remapped Sectors” on a drive having remapped sectors) will consistently produce failures on those drives.


Check Blancco Drive Eraser / Blancco 5 Configuration Tool user manual for more information on the different erasure standards and booting options.


* Note that all these settings (“Erasure Standard”, “Remove Hidden Areas”, “Erase Remapped Sectors” and “Enforce Blancco SSD Method On SSDs”) can be accessed directly from the Blancco Drive Eraser / Blancco 5 user interface (Erasure-step > Advanced-view > Erasure options) starting with version 5.10.0.

** Requires Blancco Drive Eraser 6.3.0 or higher and Blancco Drive Eraser Configuration Tool 2.3.0 or higher.