RESTRICTION: Service Communication Failure: PnkBstrA.exe

I seem to have had this issue since upgrading to Windows 8.1.

To fix the error I had to run the 'pbsvc.exe' file in C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 3 to re-rinstall (install?) the PunkBuster service as it had somehow become uninstalled.

I did this after deleting the 'pb' folder and downloading the 'pbsetup.zip' from http://websec.evenbalance.com/downloader/download.php?file=1 (as per EA's/Origin's support instructions), so you may need to do this first.

Hope this helps!