Fixing/Avoiding PunkBuster issues.

Plenty of newer players are having problems with PunkBuster kicking them. Though you'd think the developers would have this fixed, they don't. This guide may also work for other games as well. I will go over how to install PunkBuster and what you would need to do in order to get it working for this game and others.

Introduction

New players join each day wanting to try this game out, but have issues with PunkBuster kicking them. This guide is made to help those who are having problems with PunkBuster kicking them. This guide should also be usable in other games where players have issues with PunkBuster kicking them from a server. I will try to make this guide as detailed as possible. A video will be made as well.


What you will need:

• WinRar or any other kind of file/archive compression/decompression tool. I use winrar in this guide. I will go over how to get winrar as well.
  
• America's Army: Proving Grounds [Steam]
  
• Internet Connection
  
• A Web browser (...)

Step 1. Downloading PunkBuster

First you will need to head over to the punkbuster website. It is located at http://www.punkbuster.com/ .





Once you are there, just press "Download PBsetup". It should forward you to the page below.






Now, assuming you're using Windws, all you must do is click the first link. It reads "For all Windows games"






You want to save the file. It should begin downloading and you will end up with an archive named "pbsetup" in the directory you downloaded the file.






Note: Your file may not look like mine, as I have WinRar already installed, but I will go over this in the next step.

Step 1a. Downloading/Installing Winrar

Assuming you do not have a file/archive compression/decompression tool, you will need to download one. In this guide I use WinRar. I will show you how to download and install winrar because you may find it useful in the future.

First you will need to head over to http://rarlabs.com/


Then click the "Downloads" tab located on the left side.


Depending on which OS you have click the install that is most appropriate. Once you have the executable (.exe) downloaded, simply double-click it and install winrar with default settings.


----

Step 2. Installing PunkBuster for America's Army

Once you have both the "pbsetup" archive, and an archiving program, you will need to extract the executeable file from the archive like so.


You should now have a file called "pbsetup" with the PunkBuster logo on it. Double click the file. Once that happens it should check for updates. This is completely normal. Afterwards you should be met with a window like the one shown below.


You will need to press "Add Game". Then press the drop down box and press "America's Army: Proving Grounds". Assuming you installed the game through Steam, the "Game path" area should fill itself automatically. If not, simply navigate to the directory by pressing "Browse". The path is as follows:

" C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\America's Army\AAPG\Binaries\Win32\pb "

Once you've got the Game path down, press "Add Game". If you get an error it will be because you don't have the correct Game Path.


Now your information under "Client Version" and "Server Version" will differ from mine because I have already installed/updated PunkBuster for America's Army, so don't worry.


Now you will need to press "Check for Updates".


Once that has finished, you may exit the PunkBuster setup. Now you must navigate to the game's "Binaries" directory.


Now double-click "pbsvc_pg". Follow through with the process. Once it has finished, you are ready to play!

Conclusion

I really hope this guide has helped you. If you wish to try this for a different game simply reference Step 2, and when you are adding a game path, navigate to the game's PunkBuster directory. If you have any issues simply message me and I will try to sort them out for you.

If you are still getting kicked via Punkbuster, disable any anti-virus software you may have open and re-exucute the pbsvc_pg.exe file in step 2.

Credits to Dnetsky for solving potential problems anyone may have post-installation.

-Thanks for reading my guide (It's my first by the way :) )

[Sickday]

This guide is almost a decade old and I haven't played this game since I made it. I don't know if any of this is still applicable, and frankly I'm not at all interested in finding out considering my interest for the game died a long time ago.

Guide is set to unlisted. GL anyone trying to use this in the current day lol.

[Vicious_Enzyme]

oh and another thing, steam is linking to the 32bit version of the game, you can launch the 64bit version from the folder: SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\America's Army\AAPG\Binaries\Win64

[Vicious_Enzyme]

re. registry bit: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/the-specified-service-has-been-marked-for-deletion/14ef18c0-cd8a-49c6-8784-6cf6f9c896ed

on trying to repair or reinstall itself without the privileges pb manages to lock out its own service file access, so it remains in delete status (unusable/greyed out) but never gets deleted.

if your sure you have pb A and B correctly placed in the system32 folder and the delete flag removed it should all work fine after a reboot

[Vicious_Enzyme]

on windows 11 pb is not copying the pnkbstrA and pnkbstrB files to the system32 folder where theyre meant to be. you need to dig them out of the wow64 folder and copy them over manually.
once you've done that give the computer a restart and the pnkbstrA and B windows services will now work properly.

( also if you've tried reinstalling pb you will now have the pnkbstrB service set to delete status in the registry, you need to find it in hklm\ - \services and delete the line that says marked for deletion.)

probably the same issue on win10. one of the files pb is running is missing the elevated privileges it needs to play with system32 folder items. so its all maunual work im afraid.

[Zumlustigenschnitzlwirt-TikTok]

I don't know anymore I did it as it is but I'm still kicked.... can anyone help?

[(legal)choccy milk dealer]

i was about to ask why does this look like windows 7 or something but then i realized how old this guide is

[Sickday]

@<2
Haven't played this game since i made the guide so I've no clue

[Ｍａｒｋ]

Is AA still using PB?

[-Ner0-]

You don't need WinRaR or something similar. Just download and install PunkBuster.

[ManagerTricky]

How about they remove punkbuster its shitty af and use Battleeye or something