hi there
i have just installed fallout 3 on my laptop and when i attempt ot play it i get a message that reads " Failed to initialize renderer. Hardware T&L required but not supported by Adapter." What in the world does this mean and how do i resolve it???

Your laptop almost certainly has a graphics chipset that is below the minimum requirements for the game. And since it's a laptop, there's probably nothing that you can do except buy another computer that does meet the minimum requirements.

You could post a Dxdiag so we can see what hardware you're running, but I'm all but certain this will confirm what I've said.

Please post a dxdiag so we can see your specs:
Start - Run (if Vista or Win 7, the search box acts like Run) - type dxdiag - hit Enter - "save all info" button - open txt file and copy/paste EVERYTHING here

Picture of process: http://www.windowsresource.net/cimages/gotodxdiag.jpg