Why does PunkBuster now require players to run the game as an administrator under WinXP/2K?

Because some cheats/hacks cannot be detected otherwise.

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Is there some way to modify my system configuration to be an administrator equivalent from PunkBuster's perspective?

Yes (under Win XP Pro or Win 2K). This can be accomplished by setting certain privileges for the user that will run the game. To do this, first temporarily log in as an Administrator.

1) Then go to Control Panel => Administrative Tools => Local Security Policy. This will open up the Local Security setting window.

2) Expand the Local Policies folder and select, User Rights Assignment. This will bring up a list of security settings for the computer. You will need to add the user that will be launching the game to have the following privileges.

3) If the user is logged in while making changes, the user must be logged out and back in for the changes to take effect.

Debug Programs
Load and unload device drivers
Manage auditing and security log
Modify Firmware environment values
Profile Single Process

An example screenshot: Attached Image

This is done by double clicking on the setting and then the "Add User or Group" button. You can either type the user or group name into the field or click on "advanced" to select from a list. If you select advanced, you may need to click on the "Object Types" button and make sure all 3 boxes are checked. Then click "OK". Click on the "Find Now" button to generate a full list of all users and groups on the system.

Highlight the user you want to add the rights to and click "OK". Keep clicking "OK" untill you are back at the Local Security Settings window. Repeat this process for the rest of the list. That user will now be able to play on PB servers without getting kicked for "Inadequate O/S Privileges".

For XP Home Users Additional Info:

Use this solution to make either an Administrator Account or a Limited Account have the correct rights to run correctly:

1) Logon as the Administrator

2) Download NTRights.exe self extracting archive that contains the NTRights.exe and the following batch file (NTRights.cmd):

CODE
CODE
c:\ntrights.exe -u Tester +r SeDebugPrivilege
c:\ntrights.exe -u Tester +r SeLoadDriverPrivilege
c:\ntrights.exe -u Tester +r SeSecurityPrivilege
c:\ntrights.exe -u Tester +r SeSystemEnvironmentPrivilege
c:\ntrights.exe -u Tester +r SeProfileSingleProcessPrivilege
pause

3) When you run the exe it will prompt you for the path to extract (default = c:\NTRights\

4) Right click the NTRights.cmd and select Edit, replace "Tester" with the name of your user account name that has the problem.

5) Save and run the NTRights.cmd by double clicking on it

6) Click on the game EXE, and choose "Run as...", enter your limited user and the password and check if you can play that now.

Do NOT log off in this process or log in again with that user! Just do all of the above steps in one go.

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I still keep getting kicked by PunkBuster for "Insufficient O/S Privileges".
Is there some other way to modify my system configuration to be an administrator equivalent from PunkBuster's perspective in XP Home, or for Pro Users that get their rights reset?

If you have carried out the above and the rights keeps getting reset you may have mal or spyware on your PC, please read the following:

Make sure you run the game under an Administrator or equivalent account under Windows. Make sure a password is set on this Windows account. If you do have access an admin account, you can right click on the application you want to run and select "Run As". This will allow you to give admin access to that program and should allow you to play with a limited user.

When that did not work, please try this file: http://www.downloads.subratam.org/VX2Finder.exe

This will only work on Win2K and XP.
-Finds all files created by Look2Me (although it is possible an error could occur detecting and listing files, but skilled eyes looking at filenames can decide that fairly quickly.. it hasn't been wrong yet)
Also confirmation needed for every file to delete (for safety)
1) Delete all files found (VX2Finder will "End Task" on up to 2 instances of Rundll32.exe automatically). You will get a message about "cannot delete this one" matching the same name in the Guardian Key.

2) Click "Open regedit" will take you right to the Guardian Key (no need to search for it). Highlight "Guardian", right click and choose Security/permissions, you'll get another window with 'advanced'.. DE-select (uncheck) the lower box with "inheritable permissions" hit 'ok' and 'remove' on the following security prompts. Restart computer.

3) On restart use VX2Finder again, select + delete the last file, click "User Agent" will remove that entry from the registry.

4) Click "Open regedit" again, this time restoring the checkmark in "inheritable permissions"

5) Click "Guardian.reg" Deletes the Guardian Key.

6) Use Find again should produce a clean log of blank values.

7) Click "Restore Policy" to restore the Debug policy altered in the look2Me installation (requires reboot to apply, but not immediatley neccessary).

You may need to select different versions to make sure you have found them all. Clicking on "find vx2.BetterInternet info" again should show all fields blank (especially "User Agent String"). When you still get the Inadequate O/S priviledges kick, open a trouble ticket with Even Balance and include the scan results from VX2Finder(126).exe in your note.

GREEZ