[PC] FIX Punkbuster Kicks!New Fix!

Hi guys & gals,

Recently I have had problems where any game that ran Punkbuster services would kick me after about 30 seconds of play time. I had given up but then started to trawl through the internet to find a solution. To no avail...

I tried uninstalling Punkbuster completely and re-installing. Nothing. I tried manually starting the processes in the task manager to which I could not as it gave me an error about it not linking to programmes or something like that. I then went into the services browser in windows only to find that PnkBstrA was DISABLED. When I tried to start it it came up with the error that it was marked for deletion?! Now I was really confused.

Painstakingly I spent 4 hours trying to resolve the issue. Then FINALLY I had a bit of a brainwave. Here is what I did to fix my issue!

NOTE!!! This solution requires some Regedit processes to take place. If you do not feel comfortable with Regedit please either seek professional help or feel free to contact me.

Step 1:- Open up task manager and identify in the services tab if PnkBstrA.EXE is in the STOPPED status. Try and Start the service. If it fails go to step 2

Step 2:- Hit your start button and search for 'Services' then hit enter. It should display a window as shown in this link: https://gyazo.com/d66cea03415a1622cd5af0022ba49872

Step 3:- Locate PnkBstrA. If the status is has nothing and the Start-up Type is 'Disabled' right click and try and start it. If the options are greyed out, right click then hit properties.

Step 4:- After going into PnkBstrA properties change the start-up type in the drop-down box to Automatic. Hit Apply. If you get an error along the lines of 'This process is marked for deletion' Close the error message and cancel the properties dialogue box.

Now here comes the Regedit part.

Step 5:- Hit your windows button + R at the same time. This should bring up the 'Run' Box. Type in the field 'Regedit' It should open your registry editor. See this photo: https://gyazo.com/65f03a91596af83fa27bf80584fc6d9b

Step 6:- Navigate to in the navigation pane something like this: "Computer/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services" Once in here find the PnkBstrA folder. See this photo: https://gyazo.com/ca2952b113cddc5cd451a9b7dba6b832

Step 7:- This step is the part where people will probably cringe and want to stop. TRUST ME, this has to be done in order to fix the issue. DELETE, Yes DELETE the PnkBstrA folder. Like I said if you do not feel comfortable doing this please STOP at STEP 6. Otherwise if you have completed STEP 7 go to STEP 8.

Step 8:- Now follow STEP 2. Locate the PnkBstrA service. Click ONCE on it and in the description it should say something like 'Failed to read description. Error 2' That's a good thing.

Step 9:- Now Reboot your machine.

Step 10:- Welcome back, Now click this link to download the Punkbuster service installer: http://www.evenbalance.com/downloads/pbsvc/pbsvc.exe

Step 11:- Run the Installer as an Administrator

Step 12:- Let the installer do it's work as it should. After the installer has completed run the installer again but click the 'Test Services' Button. It should test all OK with no problems.

Step 13:- Head to this link: http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=pbsetup.php

Step 14:- Download the latest setup for your system. Then run as an Administrator.

Step 15:- Add your respective game to the list and then click 'Check For Updates'

Step 16:- When it has finished go and check your game in origin for any updates that are available.

Step 17:- Check the services as stated in STEP 2. Now you should have PnkBstrA & PnkBstrB in the list and both 'RUNNING'

Step 18:- If no updates for your game are available then launch into a multi-player server. Your game should work! 

This is the exact way I fixed my game.

Please if you get stuck with anything please get in touch with myself and I will endeavour to help you in any way I can.