Unable To Play Because Of Punkbuster [ Edited ]

[sean33333]

I can join a game for about 2 minutes sometimes a little longer and am then kicked with the message "Game disconnected: you were kicked by PunkBuster. Stated reason: PunkBuster kicked player 'sean33333' (for 0 minutes) ... RESTRICTION: Service Communication Failure: PnkBstrB.exe initialization failed".I am currently on windows 8.1.

When I googled my problem I was told to go into my battlefield 4 install file and run pbsvc.exe. During the reinstall it says "can't open file 'C;\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe' (error 32: the process cannot access the file because it is being used by anither process.)" Then when installing I recieve this as my output

Starting PunkBuster Service Tests (v0.993) (06/23/14 09:42:59)
Checking OS
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
Checking PnkBstrA service status   RUNNING
Checking PnkBstrA Version          OK (1036)
Extracting "PnkBstrB.exe" to:
   "C:\Users\seanb_000\AppData\Roaming\PnkBstrB.exe"
                                   OK
Checking firewall settings         OFF
Is PnkBstrA explicitly allowed?
C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrA.exe   NO
Is PnkBstrB explicitly allowed?
C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe   NO
Checking if PnkBstrB is running    NOT RUNNING
Getting port for PnkBstrA          OK (44301)
Opening socket for packet send     OK
Sending version packet to PnkBstrA SENT
Receiving version from PnkBstrA    OK
Received 6 bytes from 127.0.0.1:44301
  Response = 7360 (ms) Version = v1036
Getting PnkBstrB install instance  OK
Sending start packet to PnkBstrA   SENT
Waiting for packet from PnkBstrA   OK
Received 3 bytes from 127.0.0.1:44301
  Response = 14391 (ms) PnkBstrB DID NOT start.
  Load FAILED.
  PnkBstrA.log:  C:\Users\seanb_000\AppData\Local\PunkBuster\BF4\pb\PnkBstrB.exe] to [C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe] failed; Load denied. (32)
[06.23.2014 09:39:39] ERROR: Copy from [C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.xtr] to [C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe] failed; Load denied. (32)
[06.23.2014 09:40:54] PnkBstrA v1036 Service Started Successfully. This service is a component of the PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system. Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information.
[06.23.2014 09:43:11] ERROR: Copy from [C:\Users\seanb_000\AppData\Roaming\PnkBstrB.exe] to [C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe] failed; Load denied. (32)

Watching for PnkBstrB instance change (11) TIMEOUT
Getting port for PnkBstrB          OK (45301)
Sending version packet to PnkBstrB SENT
Receiving version from PnkBstrB    TIMEOUT
Checking PnkBstrK driver status    NOT FOUND
Manually stopping PnkBstrB         FAILED - no handle
Removing test PnkBstrB file        OK
  PnkBstrA.log:  C:\Users\seanb_000\AppData\Local\PunkBuster\BF4\pb\PnkBstrB.exe] to [C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe] failed; Load denied. (32)
[06.23.2014 09:39:39] ERROR: Copy from [C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.xtr] to [C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe] failed; Load denied. (32)
[06.23.2014 09:40:54] PnkBstrA v1036 Service Started Successfully. This service is a component of the PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system. Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information.
[06.23.2014 09:43:11] ERROR: Copy from [C:\Users\seanb_000\AppData\Roaming\PnkBstrB.exe] to [C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe] failed; Load denied. (32)

  PnkBstrB.log:  nticated source (59307)
[06.22.2014 14:39:56] WARNING: Ignoring Packet from unauthenticated source (59307)
[06.22.2014 14:39:59] WARNING: Ignoring Packet from unauthenticated source (59307)
[06.22.2014 14:40:02] WARNING: Ignoring Packet from unauthenticated source (59307)
[06.22.2014 14:40:11] PnkBstrB v2.333 (BF4) Service Started Successfully. This service is a component of the PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system. Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information.
[06.22.2014 14:55:12] PnkBstrB v2.333 (BF4) Service Started Successfully. This service is a component of the PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system. Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information.
[06.22.2014 16:17:42] PnkBstrB v2.333 (BF4) Service Attempting Unload (ff02). This service is a component of the PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system. Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information.


----------------------------------
  Tests finished.

Any help you could provide would be appreciated! Thanks in advance

Edit: Id also like to add this is not the first time this has happened. It has happened in the past and resolved itself

[lvivman]

Hello,

you should update PunkBuster .

How to update PB ? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sN5kJG1-og

If i helped you , you can put me "XP" and mark my answer as Solution "Accept As Solution"

_________________________

Thanks for using Answer HQ

[LoneRobin]

Hello !! I have also the same issue and I found that this is due to temporry issue that some others too are also facing. Here is the help link I have found : http://help.ea.com/en/article/incorrect-punkbuster-bans/.

[WootCandy]

Have you tried uninstalling it from Control Panel?

How about this removal tool?

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=pbsvcfaq.php

PBSVC  the word "here" is linked to it

Then reinstall

**dang u guys are fast.

[sean33333]

This was happening before the wave of bans and I'm not getting banned just kicked for 0 minutes because some part of punkbuster isnt launching

[sean33333]

Even when uninstalling and reinstalling I still get the can't open file 'C;\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe' (error 32: the process cannot access the file because it is being used by anither process.) error

---

[WootCandy]

Try going to safe mode and run the removal tool  or  Try uninstall from CP in Safe Mode.

If it still doesn't do it (or it can't uninstall from safe mode)... I'd rename the file to PnkBstrB.exe.BAK..

If by some crazy reason you still cannot do that from safe mode, download a small linux live cd / usb.... teach it who is boss

[sean33333]

I appreciate the help but it still doesnt seem to be working :/ I mean I can uninstall but its the reinstall thats giving me problems.

[WootCandy]

You tried Uninstalling, restarting, reinstalling?  It still says that file is in use?

Did you try to "teach it who is boss" in safe mode?  Rename the file .BAK

The "Removal Tool" is no good either?

Safe Mode?

Surely we gotta be able to whack it out completely and start fresh.

[Ice_]

Hello guys, I'll awake an old thread because I have exactly the same problem now.

It all started when I started to play Red Orchestra 2 (Rising Storm) again after like 2 years or so.

I've managed to reinstall punkbuster after a PC reboot twice so far but I don't want to reboot my PC that often since I am running services such as http, ftp, mail and a teamspeak server on my machine.

It doesn't matter what I do, it'll always fail copying or accessing pnkbstrb.exe in C:\windows\system32 or whatever it's trying to do...

I've used Process Explorer to find any hidden handles accessing that file but there are none, nothing is touching the file(s).

I do run Windows Defender but there is no change to my problem even when it's deactivated and I don't have a firewall activated.

This is very annoying and I'm not sure what to do. Give up PC gaming completely now when such an important game feature totally fails on you? Clearly we're not alone on this one, just google the error!

I've sent a support ticket to evenbalance but I've read their crappy answers from other forum threads so I'm not getting my hopes up on that one heh, they clearly wont be able to solve our problem because they only ask you to run the pbsvc tool with administrator rights or blame a crappy firewall even though it has NOTHING to do with the error given to them...