Pnkbstra.exe Causes Problems? Quick Repair Guide!

Pnkbstra.exe is making you problems…? In the following post I’ll try to help those gamers whom are having problems with this executable. It is important to understand where this file is coming from, who created it, and why it was created in the first place.

About this .exe file
The creators of this file are Even Balance, Inc.
It is part of PunkBuster - an anti-cheating software which is installed together with various popular PC games. The purpose of this software is to detect and prevent any attempts from cheating players to manipulate online games such as: BattleField 2, Wolfenstein-Enemy Territory, Call of Duty, Half-Life2 Deathmatch and more.

The location of this file is usually: C:WINDOWS\system32\

Typical problems with Pnkbstra.exe
Gamers having problems with this file usually receive error messages that indicate the file’s path together with this is not a valid system32 file or they might get kicked out when trying to play a game together with a Restriction: Service Communication Failure error.

Step-by-step repair guide:

Case #1: You’ve installed games on your PC
If you’ve installed games on your PC, then you must realize that stopping or removing this anti-cheating software may cause your games to stop working! You must have this software enabled.

(1) Use an updated and correct PunkBuster installation
Visit: http://www.evenbalance.com
These are the developers of the software. You can download and install their latest and correct version.

Problems are gone…?
If not, continue to step #2

(2) Scan for Pnkbstra.exe related errors
(a) Download the following Windows errors repair tool
(b) Conduct an in-depth scan to your Windows (free)
(c) Review the scan results - see if it has detected any errors that relate to this executable

Case #2: You’ve never installed any games/removed a game lately

(1) Check for viruses and malware
Use a reliable anti-virus like Microsoft Security Essentials

(2) Safely disable this service - you don’t need it
(a) Click Windows START -> Run (or the Search programs and files box in Win 7)
(b) Type msconfig and click ENTER
(c) In Services tab disable PunkBuster service

This way you disable it from automatically running when Windows starts up.

If it’s still giving you problems the go to step #3.

(3) Scan for Pnkbstra.exe related errors
(a) Install this Windows errors repair tool
(b) Conduct a comprehensive system scan (free)
(c) Examine the scan results - see any errors related to this file have been detected