What is PnkBstrA.exe? Is PnkBstrA.exe spyware or a virus?

How to fix PnkBstrA.exe related problems?
1. Run Security Task Manager to check your PnkBstrA process
2. Run SpeedUpMyPC to fix related speed issues
3. Run Spyware Doctor to remove persistent malware


PnkBstrA.exe is part of the PunkBuster software installed alongside various PC games. PunkBuster software is used to prevent users from cheating while using online games. Stopping or removing this software may cause your games to stop working.http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/pnkbstra.exe.html 

If you want a detailed security rating about your PnkBstrA.exe (and all other running background processes) read the following user opinions, and download the free trial version of Security Task Manager.

Note: Any malware can be named anything - so you should check where the files of the running processes are located on your disk. If a "non-Microsoft" .exe file is located in the C:\Windows or C:\Windows\System32 folder, then there is a high risk for a virus, spyware, trojan or worm infection! Check it out!


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Users Opinions

Average user rating of PnkBstrA.exe: 4 based on 191 votes. Read also the 141 reviews.

9162 users ask for this file. 93 users rated it as not dangerous. 22 users rated it as not so dangerous. 49 users rated it as neutral. 15 users rated it as little bit dangerous. 12 users rated it as dangerous. 18 users didn't rate it ("don't know").


All comments about PnkBstrA.exe:
rate0 i think it punkbuster for games, but it starts on windows?   Patrick
rate4 it is a game anti cheat, but it is not needed if the game is not running and they can use it as spyware  
rate1 punkbuster an antcheat program when playing online games  
rate2 America's Army   DorKyurga
rate1 I belive this is the Punkbuster application for online games, to prevent cheating. If you do not have one of those games installed, it could be Spyware.  
rate5 loaded from Call of Duty2 online play, soon after began noticing suspcious behavior, ie: unusual net traffic, programs restarting on their own, etc.   Andy
rate5 trying to detect my private hax   theallknowing
rate3 Online Games Anti Cheating Software  See also: Link   Sporty
rate3 Used by alot of different games as an antihacking system. Does not affect you in anyway badly   Charlie
rate1 PunkBuster File NO VIRUS   Adem
rate1 Helps prevent hackers playing games   Andrew
rate1 Punkbuster used for online gaming   john
rate1 Whenever you install a game which has punkbuster associated with it, you get this at start up, and I think PnkBstrB.exe while you are playing the game, for me it was BF2142.  
rate1 Punkbuster!! for pc games   JJ
rate1 Punk Buster - AntiCheat for many First Person Shooter Online Games (BF2142, CS:S, AA, etc..)  See also: Link   AdamX
rate1 It's used by the punkbuster software.  See also: Link   Nelson Fluckz
rate1 Its for Americas Army Game punkbuster program   {-SMAKU-}_Jig$aw
rate3 It is a part of anti-cheating system used by various games.   kixu
rate0 Wikipedia: The company is widely known from the anti-cheat program PunkBuster and is probably the only world-wide specialized company in providing those products at present.  See also: Link   Tony
rate5 Delete its a trojan/keylogger  
rate0 Part of PunkBuster Installed with Battlefield 2142   Haggas
rate3 I installed americas army and it came with that it is some kind of anti cheat program if you dont have that running you will not be allowed on certain servers i hope this helps   wayne =IB= JEDI [MP]
rate3 This is the punkbuster anti-cheat software that runs in the background. It can be disabled if you're not going to be playing the punkbuster enabled games. You will need to restart the process to play online. Even Balance has a little program you can download to aid in stopping/restarting the processes. See their website for more info:  See also: Link   JB
rate1 Necessary Firewall Punkbuster component for Video Game hacker/Cheater protectionfor many Video games.  See also: Link   TimoMajere
rate1 Service used by PunkBuster protected Video games. ( Anti-Cheats)  See also: Link   TimoMajere
rate1 its a part of the punkbuster system for the game Battlefield 2   C Beck
rate3 Thats Punkbuster, after update ( das ist punkbuster nach einer aktualisierung)  See also: Link   Mandes
rate0 That it is a part of punbuster for Call of duety   Bob the straig chees
rate2 PunkBuster Dienst  See also: Link   suchenundfinden
rate1 Used for online gaming such as BattleField 2  See also: Link   Tyler
rate3 Part of Punkbuster Anticheat program  See also: Link  
rate2 A utility to prevent cheating/hacking in online multi-player games.  See also: Link   Eric Johansen
rate2 forma parte de la ultima actualizacion del punkbuster (sistema anticheats incluido en juegos como battlefield2,call of duty 2,prey,etc...) sin el proceso funcionando punkbuster puede expulsarte de los servidores de juego   Xaviss
rate3 it comes from playing online games, ie: bf2142, bf2   glyn321
rate1 Part of the Punk Buster gaming system, checks for cheats   Dr Ken Salzman
rate1 Punkbuster is a a monitor that checks users friendliness in online gaming. i.e if keep killing your own team or generally being a dick then it will kick you. but beware that if you disable punkbuster some games will not work like Battlefield 2142 demo. for more info on how to stop dumb shits messing about when your trying to have a serious game click on the link  See also: Link   TIXEVIL
rate0 Seems to be part of Punkbuster, an anti-cheating service for FPS games. Doesn't seem harmful but shouldn't be running on startup.  
rate3 Punkbuster-Datei, lauscht an einem Port und dient der Erkennung von Cheatern in Spielen wie World in Conflict, Americas Army oder auch Call of Duty.Die Dateigröße unter Windows XP ist 63040 bytes.   Kai Langer
rate4 Punk Buster is evil and is very hard to remove from a system once installed.   Athena
rate4 new punkbuster version  See also: Link   joseph
rate3 Used By Battlefield 2142  
rate0 I think its BattelFeild 2142 Punk Buster   Jason
rate1 It's the PunkBuster service used by e.g. ET Wolfenstein. It's a game extension.   Willberg
rate2 Got it when I installed WarRock. I think it has to do with their anti-cheat system. From what I hear other MMOFPSs use this system as well.  See also: Link   meshif
rate1 This file is part of Punk Buster, an anti-cheating module found in some games, such as Wolfenstein-Enemy Territory  See also: Link   Wes
rate3 for internet gaming  
rate1 PnkBstrA.exe and PnkBstrB.exe, both monitor for ingame hacks for popular online games. With out it you wont be able to play games that support it online.  See also: Link   -=§Yakko§=-
rate1 It's a punkbuster program which looks for cheats during gameplay (games which use punkbuster).   playeer
rate3 Anti Game Cheater File...   The Captain
rate3 A no cheating tool for games like Battlefield. Is loaded with the game.   Sascha
rate1 Used for ensure cheaters are kept away from online games   allstars
rate2 Punk Buster is installed with some online games. Mine was installed with Call of Duty 4. PnkBstrA and B are services that can be seen in MSConfig. Disabling them will only affect the quantity of server that you'll be able to connect to. If you are a online COD player you should keep those enabled since most server will have punkbuster enabled   Stephane
rate1 PunkBuster client for online First Person Shooter games.   Wolfmight
rate3 seems to be a backdoor trojan of some sort   BP
rate3 laut kaspersky 7.0.0..... alles ok   pitbull
rate3 Called Punk Buster, Installed with Call of Duty 2. Looks for known cheats on your hard drive, and reports to connected server during online play.   Jeremy
rate4 it slows down system performance particularly for gamers   Sebi Sheldin
rate1 Whrere it is from. His real name is Punk Buster: It´s needed for games like Battlefield 2: I think it´s not dangerous   Security
rate1 Required file for games that use PunkBuster anti cheat program  See also: Link   Joe
rate1 Did search on my computer and file belongs to PunkBuster anti cheat program for online games.   Purple44
rate3 Part of the "Punk Buster" anti-cheating system for online gaming their is a PnkBstrB.exe in the same directory which is also neither dangerous nor essential  
rate5 In my case it was malware   Simon
rate1 a upate for punkbuster, which is used by many games, punkbuster is a program to detect hackers from games, www.evenbalance.com  
rate1 its a punkbuster file for games  
rate1 it is a file that evenbalance, aka Punkbuster, has made so that hackers and cheaters dont play on servers for online games like Battlefield 2.  See also: Link   Jon Healey
rate1 you need this file to play on punkbuster servers(battlefield2)   Krisstuz
rate2 Used by Games to discover Cheats   Cajos
rate3 Punk Buster LAN/TCIP echo program  See also: Link   Neuvik
rate1 Wow64 allows 64bit kernel to run 32bit kernel apps.  See also: Link   Casey
rate1 helps stop cheating   jonno
rate1 verhindert das eingeben von cheats bei Call Of Duty  
rate1 Teil der Punkbuster-Prozesse, welche für das Nutzen von Software, die über Punkbuster läuft benötigt wird. (Part of the Punkbuster-technology which is used by different games.)  See also: Link   Malazag
rate1 Its a program that is used to look for hacks or cheats for online games - if you stop this you will get kciked from punk buster protected servers   EXZODIER
rate3 it's deigned to prevent hackers in games like Battlefield 2  See also: Link   Matt
rate1 Park of PunkBuster Anti-cheat. Installs a service.  See also: Link  
rate1 this is system process for punk buster anti-cheat system installed by few online games.   River
rate0 Punkbuster anti-cheat. anti-swear etc for games like BF2, BF2142, COD4   d
rate1 Punkbuster for many online FPS games such as Call of Duty 4, Counter-Strike Source, Half-Life2 Deathmatch, and many other STEAM games, completely harmless, however will cause games to crash if not updated from the website   Mike
rate1 Part of Punkbuster  
rate1 For me, it was installed when I installed America's Army. It is an anti-cheat thing that some games use.   Maximus
rate2 Is Part of PunkBuster Anticheat-Software which is needed playing online (f.e.Battlefield). PnkBstra.exe's purpose seems to be the update of Punkbuster related files  See also: Link   DasChillum
rate1 It's punkbuster...a lot less harmful than playing someone using an aimbot, thats for sure.   Jason
rate1 Anti cheat system processus  See also: Link   Mancinelli Benjami
rate1 Punkbuster anti-cheat gaming program   Bob Carr
rate3 It is a program which is recommend to play WarRock - but you only need this to play but it runs all the time   dei mudda
rate0 It has to do with PunkBuster program from Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory free game   Andrey
rate1 This is part of Punkbuster (Anticheat software for online games)  
rate0 its probably an anti cheat for gaming, punkbuster  
rate1 its used by, VALVE, STEAM, CALL OF DUTY 4   KingDom
rate2 Anti-cheat software  
rate1 trying to keep the l337 down  
rate1 Part of Punkbuster Anticheat program   Yufa
rate2 It's an anti-cheating program called Punkbuster, but can be used as spyware by the company. Just end the process if you're not playing a game.   Sebasman2
rate4 Haven't installed any games and had this popping up one day, guess it was malware in my case too.   Pedo
rate2 Its used for various games, my antivirus saw it as a virus first time i used it, but its nothing special. Can be a hell to remove and or dealing with it.   Nic
rate1 anticheat online games   gavi
rate3 Designed as anti-cheat, it uses malicious technology and remains in memory  
rate0 this file is for battlefield game it allows bunkbuster to watch your game to see if you are using cheats   SOBPizzabob
rate1 Anti-Cheating System for Online Games like Battlefield or Call of Duty   Dennis
rate1 Used for playing online games. Ex: Quake Live. Apparently used to help prevent cheating.   Humphihzly
rate1 I think it's used by Quake Live.   stalepie
rate1 PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software technology and services combat online cheating in some of the most popular games being played over the Internet today  See also: Link   comasic
rate3 for online games by Need For Speed   gurbetelde
rate1 used for quake live   Roger
rate2 Anti-cheat software. Tends to glitch up sometimes. but otherwise harmless  
rate1 Im playing Americas Army, and I also got PunkBuster. Its Anty-Cheating system, allright.   Theory
rate1 This is a file used in PunkBuster™ Anti-Cheat software for games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, etc. It is not dangerous in any way. For those who found it as malware, there might be a fake file out of it. But if you got it from www.evenbalance.com or from one of the games its intergrated with, your safe as can be. It can be easily removed through registry or the people on the development team could help you as well.  See also: Link   Rob
rate0 i have two of PnkBstrA.exe running on my computer? one takes 1700kt and other 1600kt. Should i stop the other one or what would be the best solution in this case?   jack
rate0 need for speed undercover/pb/pnkbstra.exe  
rate3 Used in games to check wether you're cheating or not. If you kill this process, you'll not be able to play several games (e.g. Call of Duty 4, Wolfenstein ET)  See also: Link   Freekyboy
rate4 It's supposed use is to monitor your game while you play to prevent cheating, why it runs from startup is very confusing, and oddly you have to remove it from the registry, which most users won't know how to do. I personally don't trust it at all.   Angry
rate3 It is from Evenbalance, used for anti cheating in a varity of games, needed to run on servers that look for hackers and cheaters. Needed to stay in the game or get kicked for not running the file. Also associated with punkbuster B   Dan C
rate0 It's the biggest problem since Anti-Cheat software. PBsucks.netor   Fail
rate1 That's just the anti cheat software used in most EA Games... and CoD's too, almost every game but not EVERY... it's totally harmless   BRabbit
rate1 Don't know what it actually is but i got it after i installed RB6 Vegas 2 so i would have to agree with everyone else on the anti hack   RB6
rate2 was installed after after I installed Battlefield 2 by EA games its a anti-cheat program that moniters ea/other games   scott
rate3 This program is designed to inhibit "cheating" while playing certain games. The problem is that this is program is poorly designed and this is where it causes problems. It should NEVER run when no games are being played; however, it runs all the time and conusmes valuable resources which slows older systems (prior 2008). So while it is not dangerous, it does often harm the performance of other applications.   Doug
rate3 its is spyware to watch players it uses 50% cpu ik hate that sorry   Joey
rate3 It is the PunkBuster engine, which identifies cheating in online and multiplayer games.   Tobias Theebe
rate1 Run services.msc; Right-click PunkBuster and select Properties; From here you could know what game/program is automatically runs PnkBstrA.exe; In my case it is for Need for Speed ProStreet.   ulrichxyco
rate4 this program stops illegal acces but when it's runing on servers usually block all connections to the server   NRS
rate3 it is beyond annoying. it was instaled on my pc when i tried to play APB, and now i can not get rid of it. i do not have Apb anymore, i want this damn PnkBstrA GONE. however, there is ZERO way to get rid of it. i tried the "uninstal" button, and it did not work!   Ticked Off.
rate1 Battlefield 3, so basically any game installed with online capabilities distributed from EA will install it. Not necessary, so you can end it. but no threat.  See also: Link   Stardust342.Tk
rate4 Should be gone when you delete the software, BUT is isn't. Have to DL the uninstaller to remove the syswow64 files.   SlapMyFace
rate2 As many other sayd, PnkBstrA.exe is nothing dangerous,because many games use it as an anti-cheat program,wherefore, there are hackers who create trojans with the same process name so it can be cloaked... i turn it off on every system start-up because i stopped playing First-Person-Shooters already :)  
rate0 this punk buster keep kicking me out of the game when i play battlefield play4free!!   Ryan
rate1 Try to check if you cheat while online gaming (call of duty and many more can't play online if not available))   Carl
rate1 Unless it's not in system32, it's not dangerous. However, if PnkBstrA.exe is bugging you in the Taskmanager, even if you're not playing online, just go stop the service (Run -- services.msc), find run PnKbstrA.exe and disable it.   Val
rate4 Punkbuster is anticheat software that is also Spyware and there for Malware. The software reads your systems memory and has the ability to Send Screenshots of your computer while it is running and also Scan and list any file on your computer. It is "required" To play on Punkbuster protected servers, however it is spyware in the fact that it continues to run even when the game is not running, it hogs memory resources and it's EULA and Privacy Policies are Illegal.   Rob
rate1 same here and as soon as i get in I get kicked out and on top of that I don't cheat on Battlefield p4f   skulldystroyorz
rate2 Cheatschutz   127.0.0.1
rate1 Punkbuster anti-cheat engine   Windmilling Junk
rate1 Anti-Cheats in online games   Nox
rate4 "Forced down the throat" so to speak when installing various games; however instead of running as part of THAT game it runs at start-up and is known to cause problems with several other games in the process. Restrictive program that runs unnessarily.   DontCare
rate3 All i know is my computer got hacked when i joined a foreign server in battlefield. This software did nothing for me.   A man whos upset
rate3 when trying to run private server for a game that doesnt use this it blocks the ports or acts like a firewall, but def an anti-cheat junk crap will delete the game its being used by   Preston Baes
rate4 That it scans your PC all the time, does not detect hacks and mainly is just a horrible piece of software  See also: Link   TheTruth
rate1 Punkbuster - an anti-cheating device used by many play-for-free games.   Stefan B.
rate1 Anti-cheat for Battlefield 3  
rate5 It effects the way you can play online!e.g. Assassins creed brotherhood multiplayer!   -----------
rate4 Unless it's not in system32, it's not dangerous. However, if PnkBstrA.exe is bugging you in the Taskmanager, even if you're not playing online, just go stop the service (Run -- services.msc), find run PnKbstrA.exe and disable it.   Competent SEO

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