Here's the problem:
When I put the disk into my DVD drive Windows Explorer slows to a screeching halt. If I'm impatient with it and I try and open it up manually it crashes. If I wait about 5 minutes it eventually pops up an error message of "D:\Setup.exe is not a valid Win32 application." I presume this is the auto-play trying to run the setup.exe on the disk and failing for some reason. After I've gotten that error message I can open up windows explorer and explore the disk or try and run it again. No matter how I approach the setup.exe file, though, whether from auto-play, run, or manually executing it within the folder, it takes about 5 minutes of sluggishness and then gives me that same error.
I'm currently running on Windows Vista 64; I wouldn't be surprised if this is somehow related to the error. I've triple checked all my drivers and windows updates and it is all up to date. The computer itself is very new, only a couple months old, but the DVD drive is salvaged from my last computer so it is an outside possibility that the drive is just getting old and not reading the disk properly. Still, it reads all my other CDs and DVDs just fine; it only gives me trouble with this Fallout disk.
I think I am going to try and return this disk for another; maybe there is some faulty production or invisible scratch that keeps it from running properly.