Project Reality Forums

I get kicked a lot by PunkBuster for Service Communication errors like "initialization failed" or "heartbeats stopped", how do I fix that?

If you run some type of personal firewall or security software, make sure that you configure it to fully allow our services, especially PnkBstrA.exe. These kicks are most often caused by our PnkBstrA.exe service failing to properly install our PnkBstrB.exe service during gameplay. Also, several Windows 7 users have reported that the following steps corrected the issue for them: 1) login as an Administrator user, 2) open Windows Explorer and browse to c:\windows\system32 (or wherever the windows folder is on your machine) - note: if you run Windows 7 64 bit, you need to browse to c:\windows\syswow64 instead, 3) scroll down and find PnkBstrA.exe, 4) right-click PnkBstrA.exe and choose Properties, 5) click the Compatiblity tab, 6) click the button at the bottom of the window that reads "Change settings for all users", 7) click the checkbox for "Run this program as an administrator", click the "Ok" buttons to accept the changes and get back out.

Verify integrity of game cache
Load Steam
From the Library section, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu.
Select the Local files tab and click the Verify integrity of game cache... button.
Steam will verify the game's files - this process may take several minutes.
Once the process is completed, the Check Window will automatically exit.