So, I have a few different machines here at home, and the -only- one that runs the game perfectly is the box with XP on it. I got a wee bit bored and decided to see if "Windows XP mode" run through Virtual PC would fix it in Windows 7. It does, but the thing is, you'll be going severely out of your way to get it running. Once you've installed Virtual PC and XP mode, you'll have to redownload steam -and- redownload Fallout:NV, you can't simply copy the files from your previous steam folder to your steamapps/common folder once again, else you'll crash at the launcher (even removing multiple files and re-validating etc doesn't work, I tried with almost each file once each. lol)

The game runs perfectly with massive encounters and not a single hitch in the FPS so far.

Told you, you won't like it.

Edit: Don't forget to redownload DirectX in XP Mode, you'll need that, and to make sure that in the Integration options that your Audio is checked. Your video card is automatically integrated. Also preferably have 4gb+ ram at the least, if you're running in 32bit, you're pushing it, but you can set the RAM usage to about ~1900 in the options and you should be peachy.

really? thats just sad getting a dual boot would be better though. no virtulization layer overhead...

You're right, I don't like it, but it's still better than the "remove the heads" fix by a good margin. =D
I probably won't get around to this until sometime tomorrow, but I'll make sure to report the results. Certainly makes more sense that they simply didn't fully test the game on Win 7 than that they completely skipped on the PC QA process (though it still makes me want to go on a rant about how console gaming is screwing over PC gamers, but I'll spare everyone).

well that counts me out, I've got 7's home premium edition

I knew there was a reason I told myself buying professional was better in the long run.

Sounds awesome, although when I try running it through Windows Virtual PC it tells me that "the application can't be run from remote desktop". How the hell did you manage this? What am I doing wrong?

Which application? And are you using the latest version of Virtual PC? It can't be Virtual PC 2007.

Is it Steam that's having the error or FO:NV?

I'm using the latest version of Virtual PC, straight from Microsoft.com and it's the game application, FO:NV, but I'm not running the game via steam not that that should matter right? When I run the executable it just tells me that the application can't be run from a remote desktop.
I've tried disabling remote desktop but it doesn't seem to matter, was just wondering if you did anything special to make it work or did it just run off the bat?

Mine's a steam install, I had to reinstall Steam on the Virtual PC, aswell as a few other things like DirectX. Once I did that I copied the game from my old drive to the new one and it didn't like it. So I had to delete local content and install it fresh.

You have to be running it -through- the Virtual PC, not via the shortcut that comes when you install steam called "Steam (Windows XP Mode)" which won't emulate it properly.

Why can't you just use the Steam backup feature, instead of having to redownload the whole game?

Alright, maybe steam bypasses that error by running in virtual pc? I installed directx and the c++ from the game disc and the game itself onto XP but it keeps giving me that error message. If I shut remote desktop off it no longer integrates drivers meaning it's running some integrated adapter drivers instead of the NVIDIA ones. Installing Nvidia drivers in xp mode seems to be impossible since it doesn't detect any hardware. Actually, the part in the settings where you set your graphics options doesn't allow filtering and doesn't show the graphics adapter what so ever. When I disable remote desktop it displays some intel integrated video driver so there is some progress, but you need 3d drivers to run the application. I still have no idea how you managed to get this running lol

Here, this is what it -should- look like just before running the game.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/Lucifa13/falloutnv.jpg

If you installed it from the disc I'm not certain. You have to do the Windows Updates also, I believe there was 55 updates, that'll give you most everything you need also.

If possible can you take a screenshot of what you're getting?

You can give it a try if you like, I have a 10mb down speed so it only took a half hour to redownload.

Yeah I've got the same, I just added the disc installed version to steam but I get the very same message. If you check your fallout options in the launcher, does it detect your graphics card?

The more I think about this, the more I think it won't work. You're better off having a separate XP partition.

No, it shows "Virtual PC Integration Compon..." which is the emulation of your current video card.


I told people they wouldn't like it. It functions, and plays perfectly fine, but setting it up was a hassle.

I think you are right, this is unfixable for me. Tried everything.

Just for fun I'll list the issues I have with Oblivion, Fallout 3 and this piece of [censored]:
Frame skipping (skipping every other frame making the game sluggish and hard on the eyes, like watching film from the 1920's)
VATS lag (taking between 3 to 10 seconds for VATS to display targets)
Constant Crashes
Game crashes when exited, must use task manager to close application every time
Character animations slow down to super slowmotion in dialogues or are un-synced
At times no audio when speaking to NPC
Creatures and objects falling from the sky or rubber banding across the screen
Incompatibility with codecs for video files
Incompatibility with SLI causing flickering HDR lighting (HDR must be disabled for SLI)
Slowdown (slow motion making games unplayable)

These issues are as old as oblivion, and they have never correctly patched the games. They actually didn't even correct these issues until today in future games! it's ridicilious! I've had frameskipping since Oblivion, and I ran that on XP in the past. Most players who don't complain about it just don't see it there. One word = Bugthesda

Hello, thx for posting this, regardless if people like it or not.

I don't get one thing though - how do I enable my graphic card in XP mode? It says it's using some integrated S3 video device, which won't work with the game of course.

Where do I set it to use my actual card?

Thx for any help!

I tried several things, but none of them worked. You can't install a driver in XP mode since it won't recognize the hardware, and if you try to run it with integrated options it will tell you that you can't run the app via remote desktop. Are you getting the same?

Yes, unfortunately. ;(

When I disable integration it doesn't tell me that but then pops up "Failed to initialize renderer"

Oh the pain.

I'm sure it works better with XP, it actually makes a lot of sense since the Gamebryo engine was designed for Oblivion to run on XP architecture. When I have some time during the weekend and I have stopped nerd raging at this [censored] I will try to make a second boot with XP and tell you how it works out. But I just couldn't get it to work because of those issues unfortunatly. Your post was a great help though as I 've been trying to get F3 to work properly since launch! Thanks a million.

My roommate is running it on XP32 and has a worse machine than me. Yet he doesn't run into any of the NPC problems and can play it just fine. If only I still had an XP license.

I'm sure you can get a hold of XP somehow, just ask around.

This sounds very interesting, other people with a "real" windows xp (no virtual stuff) with the same experience?

I use W7 64 too but i cant activate my european nv before friday.
I still have my old xp cd and also a second harddrive, is it really worth it to install xp on the second hd and install steam and nv there?
is w7 really the only reason for the terrible performance problems even with nvidia cards?
I also have a nvidia card.

I've been running the game on Windows 7 x64 so far, and have had the performance problems as well, even though my rig is pretty decent. FPS fluctuates from 60 to 15. Unplayable at times.

I've just created a 25 gb partition that I will install Windows XP on, in just a few minutes. A pain? Absolutely. I love Windows 7, performance is great in all other software. But is it worth it, if it means that I can play this great game with good performance? Abso-fricking-lutely.

I'll return with the results later on.

Sounds good, I'm thinking about creating a dual-boot aswell. Maybe even running reverted drivers on the XP boot if there are other problems?