I hadn't played Quake3 in a while since I had issues with my computer. I recently upgraded My PC and decided to see how much I'd lost since the last time I played. I have a fresh install of Windows XP and I am keeping things running clean and smooth (not like my last install) by not installing every piece of crap that comes along. I had saved my Quake III directory so I wouldn't have to download all the maps and mods. I copied it back over and fired up the game. OK, I expected Punkbuster to have to update, but it was taking forever. I ran pbweb and in 30 seconds or so, I'm good to go. I play for a few games (I lost allot since I last played) and closed out the game.

Now I'm installing my trusty Photoshop and check my startup items in msconfig. Photoshop has a bad habit of starting things with the system that run all the time. I don't like that. I want programs to start their stuff when I start it, not when they think it would be best. And in poking around to make sure I got everything, I find PnkBstrA.exe running in the background. I check my startup again, no, not there, so I check the services, and there it is. What the heck is this for. I do a Google search and find out that Punkbuster has started installing a service without notifying me. No warning, no "by the way", nothing. This is something I would think they should tell you. It HAS to be running to play, so it is sucking resources on my computer whether I'm playing or not. It runs 24/7 unless I want to go in and stop and start the service when I play. This sucks. Read their FAQ for the story they give about installing a service on your PC without your knowledge.

This may be old news to you Quake fans, but I haven't played in months, and it sure is news to me. Maybe there is a patch or hack out there so I can start it with the game and when I quit the game, the service will be stopped. This little pest is the kind of thing that killed my last install. Little gems that get installed without you knowing about it. I wonder if you un-installed Quake3 if this PB service would be removed also, or left behind. It is talking to it's server and "Updating" punkbuster. Hmm, what else is it doing?