Pnkbstra (PunkBuster) is an application downloaded and used by PC games, such as Call of Duty, Battlefield 2 and America's Army. Once it has been installed, it launches automatically at computer start up and connects online to prevent cheating when playing these games online. As an anti-cheat program, it monitors processes discretely in the background when playing supported online games. If you no longer play these games, disable Pnkbstra and remove it from the computer start up to prevent it from running.
Step 1
Close any currently running games that use PunkBuster. Open the Windows Task Manager by pressing "Ctrl, "Alt" and "Delete" together. Click the "Processes" tab. Scroll down and click "Pnkbstra.exe." Click "End Process" to stop this program from running.
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Step 2
Click "My Computer" on the desktop and double click the "C:" drive. Double click "Users" and double click "Appdata."
Step 3
Click Local > Punkbuster > WAW > Pb. Right click "Pnkbstra.exe" and click "Compatibility." Place a check on "Run this program as an administrator" and click "OK" to save the changes. This action will bring the program to the Services window.
Step 4
Click the Windows Start > Run. Type "services" (without quotes) and press "Enter" to open the Services window. Scroll down the Services window and double click "PnkBstra" or "PunkBuster." Click "Disabled" on the "Startup-type" window and click "OK" to save changes. Punkbuster will be removed from start up and will no longer run.
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