Hello! I'm really tired of dealing with this so I hope someone can help me.

So, first I was having an issue with saving. I would play Fallout 3 on my laptop and then save and exit. When I returned later I couldn't find my saved games. So I did a search to see if there were any patches or updates. I updated to 1.7 from the website, saved the file and then selected to run it from the download box. It worked fine, I was able to save and play. Now I can't find them UNLESS I install the update and choose run from the download menu. I've read a few posts. I tried disabling my firewalls and virus software - no. I tried searching for GFWL (however, I never signed in to Windows Live or anything to play before) and found no such folder. The saved games don't even show under the save folder under Fallout 3. I have Windows 7 and a brand new, awesome laptop that handles the game just fine. I was going to try moving my saved files from one folder to the other but I only have the one folder under Fallout 3 and it only has two autosaves and a saved game (all from the very first day I played it). I don't see what the issue is so I'm hoping someone has another idea. Again, when I put the disc in, use my desktop shortcut, or go to the folder and run it from there I cannot save or load, however, when I reinstall the update and run it from the download screen I am able to do both again. I really don't want to have to install it every time to play so let me know if you have any ideas. Thank you!