Hello all, I've been a big time Bethesda fan ever since I bought Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360 years ago. I loved it so much that I bought the GOTY edition during the holiday sale on Steam(Oblivion as well) but I have run into an issue with Fallout 3 freezing after an X amount of play time in 1 sitting, usually around 5-10 minutes. I have installed mods so that is what I thought they were but when I disabled them the problem still occurred. Then I disabled the DLC(Anchorage-Zeta) but again no avail, still crashing.

I looked online to find other solutions and believe me I've tried almost everything I could find, I've tried them separately and combined. Here is everything I have done that is said to do in order to fix this.

-Run As Admin(always do)
-Run in Compatibility Mode(Tried XP SP2-Vista SP2, this made it worse! I crashed on start up!)
-Installed/Uninstalled/Reinstalled .NET Framework 3.5-4.0(Still Nothing)
-Updated Video Card Drivers(GTX 550Ti, it's not the card, believe me...)
-Downloaded and Installed the Fallout 3 1.7 update(restarted system after install, still nothing)
-Downloaded the supposedly missing .dll file and put it into the Fallout folder(still nothing)
-Did that "Control Panel-Programs-Turn Windows Features On/Off thing(still NOTHING)
-Edit .ini file so that it will only start and run on 2 cores(nothing, set it to run on 1 core, still nothing...)
-I'm not running a second monitor so that theory is out the window
-Tried the game at the lowest settings possible, even the resolution(didn't help, still crashed)
-Tried Maximized Window Program(didn't help)
-Tried LAA Modifying Program to enable 3gb RAM for Fallout3.exe(didn't help, crashed sooner)
-Sound system is fine, tried and fooled around with all possible settings(didn't help.)
-I am currently reinstalling the game, I have deleted every little existence of Fallout 3 from my computer(except my saves), will report back when it's done and I have tested it further.

Anyone else want to suggest something to me that isn't listed? I REALLY want to play this game but if this problem persists then I'm really gonna lose interest in all Bethesda titles because of this issue. The last update was July 27th, 2009. It seems like that was the last and ONLY update from Bethesda themselves. How long has Windows 7 been out? Well since October 22nd, 2009. I know for a fact that people have had problems since then with Fallout 3. Bethesda, please, please, PLEASE patch this ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Again if anyone has something that says to work and that isn't listed above then please post it below.

**EDIT**
Also here is my Steam Thread on why I think Fallout 3 is crashing: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2448731

If you don't want to click the link then here is what I said but just summarized...

I think Fallout 3 is crashing because it is set to run in 32bit mode, so therefore when it reaches over 2g of RAM used it crashes/freezes. This same problem is presented in Skyrim when it first released so people had to use a LAA(Large Address Aware) to modify the .exe so it can run like a 64bit launcher, it worked for Skyrim but it doesn't work with Fallout 3(the full details are in my thread at Steam). Now there is a 4gb official launcher for Skyrim but not Fallout 3? I know it's old but come on, this is a SERIOUS issue and yet this hasn't been fixed? I found an enabler for 3gb+ for Fallout 3(so it turns the .exe into a 64bit ish .exe) But this still doesn't work.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6510


**EDIT 2**
So, out of curiosity, I wanted to try and see if I can do a dual boot on my system and see if I can get this game running. I was able to dual boot into Vista AND XP BUT the game STILL DOESN'T WORK. In BOTH OS's I tried EVERYTHING I listed above BUT STILL NOTHING. Bethesda, if you VALUE your customers THEN SUPPORT YOUR GAME. This game isn't even 5 years old and you're ALREADY dropping support for it?!?! Do you know what that looks like to CUSTOMERS?!?! You look GREEDY! This is almost as bad as Activision and EA! And I stopped buying their games because of their greediness and LACK OF SUPPORT!

Bethesda, if you want to keep your fan base and KEEP YOUR FAITHFUL customers then I suggest you start FIXING your games AND SUPPORT THEM FOR MORE THAN A COUPLE YEARS. I bought all the games from you that I can because you are one of the most decent and honest companies out there! Oblivion, Fallout 3, WET, Doom II, Brink, Fallout:NV, Skyrim! And I bought MOST of the DLC for those games as well! But from what I've seen you only support games up until the game's last DLC then you bail!

Come on Bethesda, you can do better than this...


**EDIT 3**
Since people want to be RUDE and IGNORANT and say that I don't have a powerful enough PC to run Fallout 3 well then, HERE ARE MY SYSTEM SPECS:

-Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise
-Intel Pentium Dual Core 3.0 Ghz CPU
-4gb of RAM
-GTX 550ti 2gb of VRAM GPU
-1440x900 60Hz Display(Viewsonic Monitor)
-ALL DRIVERS ARE UPDATED

I can run SKYRIM, MW3, OBLIVION all at a CONSTANT 60+FPS. It is NOT my system.

So if I read that correctly you've already done this?

Open up the fallout.ini file in: My Documents\My Games\Fallout3
Find the line:
bUseThreadedAI=0
change it to:
bUseThreadedAI=1
Add another line after it and insert:
iNumHWThreads=2
This will limit the game to 2 cores and prevent the engine bug from causing the game to freeze.

and done the d3d9.dll fix

after a quick scan I found these fixes as that have worked hopefully they work for you to




Sorry I can't be a bit more helpful than that but good luck

Yup, I have done the .ini file tweak.

The sound fix doesn't apply to me and the Maximized window does NOT help. I got it to work perfectly but it didn't help, not one bit.

Is it installed in the Program Files (x86) ? If it is move it someplace else. This does away with the Administrator problem. My path is C:\Games\Fallout3. My Fallout3 game runs fine on Windows 7 64 bit but it is not the Steam version of Fallout3 GOTY. I feel for you but there is no reason for Bethesda to fix it because it does run pretty well. It might be the Steam version that is messed up but you can change where the Steam version is installed. There are other threads about changing the install path for Steam games but I don't use Steam and have not payed much attention to them.

I have the same problem. Anywhere from 5-20 minutes of playtime, the game will freeze completely. I have to ctrl-alt-del to bring up task manager and kill it. The longest it has gone without doing this is about 4 hours just once.

Also, I have the same exact problem in Skyrim. This problem only seems to affect Bethesda titles for me.

Here's a list of games I've played for TONS of hours in the past 2-3 months without any crashing issues: LFD2, TF2, WoW, SW:TOR, Batman AA and AC, Bastion, Hoard, Saints Row 3, BF3, Costume Quest

fallout 3 goty - purchased from steam during steam winter sale
i5-750 2.6ghz, radeon 6970 2gb, 8gb ddr 1600, win7 x64, catalyst 12.1 video driver

ADDITION:

I've now made it to the point in the game where after retrieving the Lunar probe satalite dish (whatever it's called) you have to go to the Washington Monument to install it. Shortly after entering the monument, the game freezes. Ambient noise continues (wind), but the game locks up and you can't move, pipboy, pause, anything. The game is completely frozen. I have to ctrl-alt-delete, kill the process, and relaunch the game... but...

I have been able to recreate this error 5 times, and cannot progress beyond this point because it freezes every single time I try. Sometimes in the bottom floor before you open the elevator door, sometimes as you push the elevator button, sometimes as the elevator is halfway up, but I can never make it past this spot.

I have a solution that might work for you. Most boards have the Fallout3.ini edit solution for changing the number of processors being used and it doesnt seem to work but you can also do this another way as follows:
- run msconfig
- select the boot tab
- click advanced options
- in the top left corner of the advanced options window check the box for number of processors
- in the pull down box select 2 processors.
- Reboot your computer

I have had the same exact problem and have tried nealry everything you have tried but have had no success. I played the game for 2 hours after I made the change and no freezing and havent experienced it since. You are going to have to uncheck the number of processors box in msconfig again and reboot to return your system to back to its normal operating state. Although this is a bit of a pain to change back and forth each time you want to play the game it seems to work. Bethesda really needs to fix this issue, I love this game but I'd rather play a [censored] game than deal with constant freezing.

Its not Bethesda's problem its yours ... or more specifically your system.

Just because others create fixes for windows 7 doesnt mean it is a sane direction to go down.

Computers advanceing as they have been , just means that problems are bound to arise ..... Live with



Damn Im an [censored] , preying on poor nerdy people like yourselves , trying to make myself feel better.

Darth did had have an excelent Idea

Come on man, these pages are to help people out not to bash them. And this is bethesda's problem. This game was the game of the year at one point and it is still actively being sold in the game of the year package which came out less than 3 years ago. New Vegas uses the same engine and they still support that so it should be pretty easy to support Fallout 3. I can understand you need to stop support at some point but with as popular as this game still is, a small patch should be easy to make. Im running a this on a machine i just got in November and have run games twice as old on it with no problem, this issue shouldnt be occuring. Anyway, people should be posting useful info on here, not just coming here to piss people off.

@ Darth Revenant Thanx for your unbiased and to the point post.

I shall keep my biased oppinion out of this subject , for it is of no value.

Carry on with the Idea that technology only gets better.