Scratch the previous post. I was able to download the fix. It didnt do any good and the problem still persists.

Hmm. The fix worked for me.

About your problem...could you uninstall the Windows Live? It isn't necessary to run the game. You also might want to try running the game with your internet disconnected, since it may be a problem with the communication between your PC and Xbox Live.

It sounds like you have firewall problems from what you've read. If you can disable Windows Live or disable your internet when playing Fallout 3 then it should work.

That is assuming you meet the system requirements, which I think you do.

Just tried disabling the internet and playing the game but still nothing. There has been a slight improvement though, now instead of freezing a box comes up that says fallout 3 has stopped working. As for uninstalling windows live, i tried that as well but it wont run the game without it. With windows live uninstalled an error message comes up saying xlive.dll was not found try reinstalling the application. I'm gonna go ahead and assume that this is a vista problem. Dont think this would have happened on XP

I have xp and it runs fine. Here are some other things to try:

1. Disable your sound device(s) in Device Manager. You will have no sound in the game but it will help determine what the issue is. I have heard there are problems with the way the sound for the game was encoded. You will have no sound but the game may be playable.

2. Try a different graphics card if possible.

3. Try running the game at a resolution of 1024 x 768 or lower.

4. Try running the game on a smaller monitor (especially if you are playing it on a HDTV)

5. Try running the game on XP if possible.

To access Device Manager go to Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware Tab > Device Manager

And right click and choose Disable on your sound devices. You can re-enable them the same way whenever you want.

I just tried to run it with the sound device disabled but then a warning message came up saying fallout 3 cannot run without a sound device enabled and closed. as for resolution ive tried it already. im not using an hdtv as a screen and im not able to run the game on XP.

If you go to Control Panel > Sound And Audio Devices > Advanced

And set the Hardware Acceleration to its lowest setting (basic sound functions) does it play any better?

Sry, but i cant seem to find that option anywhere (im running a vista dv5 pavillion notebook). However, there is an option to change the quality of the sound