Fallout 3 Keeps Crashing

[Snowee]

Just bought this game today and after about five or ten minutes of play it will crash, every single time. I am running 64x vista with an HD 4870, my PC in general is new and high-end. I also realized this is a pretty common problem so I don't know if it's because of driver conflicts, registry files, or perhaps ffdshow.

So far I've tried reinstalling the game, uninstalling a K-Lite Codec pack and getting the latest video drivers.. nothing. Afterwards it started saying "winmm.dll was not found", even though it would eventually load the launcher. The only strange thing about my PC for the time being is that I'm using a CRT monitor via a DVI to VGA converter.

Is there a way to fix this? Or will I have to buy a x32 vista and do a dual-boot just so I can have some game compatibility on this machine. I'm really worried about this because it could persist onto other games. Another strange thing to note, I have two free mmos that I play. One crashes in a similar manner and the other plays fine.

 

[sethxdeath]

Ok, I thought there might be some issues running it on 64x vista (Ultimate for me), so I went to the usual places to "try it out" first. My game was crashing a lot, too. I got the latest patches and all. My friend has his installed (store-bought) on 32x and he's getting crashes as well. I'm running a GeForce GTX 280 and he's running a card a few lines behind me.

All I can say is: Wait on buying "new" games. Take it back, say it's incompatible with your system, get something else, and try the game again later after more patches and updated video drivers are available.


You could try contacting the game developer's tech support line. I heard from my friend they were extremely courteous and helpful when he was having issues installing the game. His crashes are far fewer and he didn't get as annoyed with it as me.

 

[gothnezz]

if is registry problem or conflict, create another account and reinstall the game on it, also i'm not too sure if the game is 100% 64 bit compatible.

 

[stormy13]

Something to try,

How to Fix Fallout 3 Lock ups and Crashes | Unigamesity

A little light reading (12 page thread),

Fallout 3 crashing thread - [H]ard|Forum

Pick a link, any link,

Fallout 3 Crashing - Google Search

i'm not too sure if the game is 100% 64 bit compatible.

That isn't the problem, the problem is a buggy game.

 

[johngalt]

I had problems where it would crash on loading - generally, if I made it out of the first 10 seconds of loading a saved game I played for hours on end.

 

[beaumeister]

Please help! I can't install fallout 3. Error code: (-5006: 0x8000ffff). I have vista 64 with all of the system requirements and more. I heard it could be a securom issue. I have a dvdrw drive with labelflash.(could be the problem?) I've tried everything from running fallout as an administrator, to copying it into a new folder. Has anyone else run into this problem? I'm not willing to use third party stuff, so any advice would be awesome!

 

[Snowee]

I did have securom issues too with fallout. Like it would say the original cd isn't inserted. I just tried it repeatedly and it worked, lol. Did you try it again and again? xD

 

[beaumeister]

Word! bethesda finally e-mailed me back. They wanted a dxdiag file attached to the e-mail, so I assume they will look at what version of dx I have. I'm still worried about it. I just updated my dx from microsoft, so this problem could be on-going. I just downloaded a directx web thingy-I can't remember what it's called. I bought my pc like 10 days ago, so I thought that everything would be up to date. Also, before I downloaded updates, I was able to run games in dx9, now I my os won't show the "run in dx9" option. I'm puzzled. "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

 

[Snowee]

By the way I just wanted to let you guys know, I discovered the problem is my video card. The Sapphire HD 4870 is known to cause crashing because the card would.. "keep switching the GPU clock speed between 500 Mhz and 750 Mhz. This would cause the card to, at some point, stop responding as it couldn't cope with the switches."

At least that's what I've heard, I'm still looking into it.
So I guess vista's innocent, or is it...

 

[johngalt]

Hmmm - that may account for some of my crashes then too - cause my dual GTX 260s would run at very very low speeds (like 100 versus 636 for the GPU clock) when I was not doing anything graphically intensive....so it may have just needed me to let the intro run completely before I started loading a game lol...

so, in effect, it's my *impatience* that was causing the issue....

 

[beaumeister]

I just wanted to let ya'all know that I got Fallout 3 installed and running. I found out what the problem was from the windows tech forum. If you have vista 64 like me, you to need to re-name the instalsheild folder to installsheild.old. I was confused about how to do this from the instructions I received from Bethesda. Their e-mail explained how to do it in vista 32, or xp, but not how to do it in 64.

1. Put the fallout disk in your drive.
2. Cancel the auto-play.
3. Click on Computer.
4. Double click on OS(C.
5. Double-click on Program Files(86)
6. Click on the Installsheild folder.
7. Re-neme the folder to: Installshield.old.

Thanks snowee for your input, and archie123 for the threads.
Keep it real and support vista!
Games!

 

[beaumeister]

By the way, Fallout 3 has been running perfectly on my pc. No crashes for 4+ hours. No crashes yet, as a matter of fact. Maybe we've all underestimated Vista 64.
Thanks again.

 

[MikeD53]

Here's a fix someone posted at the bethsoft forums for those using Asus videocards:


Quote:
I have an ASUS 8800GT video card and was experiencing the CTD on New Game bug like so many others here. Also, like so many others, I tried all of the various solutions others posted (clean boots, codec updates, ect.) and had no success getting the game to start. I was quite frustrated and a very sad panda.

During the course of my own trouble shooting routine, I discovered that the game would load and run properly after the ASUS Smart Doctor and GamerOSD applications were uninstalled.

While it's not an perfect solution, I do hope it helps some of you running what is turning out to be a fun game.
I have 2x9800GTXs in SLI and I couldn't get past starting a NEW game. This fixed that.

 

[mcspcs2002]

I do not have any problems with the game, as yet. I have found that if you have a dual core CPU or Dual GPU, this can cause problems.

 

[roy69]

I bought the game on Saturday and found out it crashed straight away. Disabling all non essential apps solved the problem so I am thinking conflicts.

 

[mcspcs2002]

to roy69:
Did you happen to disable the antivirus?

 

[roy69]

I will re-phrase what I ment, all non essential OS apps, Antivirus, firewall the lot. I know that fallout 3 will crash if the spybot search and destroy teatimer app is running. I have not used the game online so disableing your firewall etc if you are online is done at your own risk.

 

[mcspcs2002]

I will re-phrase what I ment, all non essential OS apps, Antivirus, firewall the lot. I know that fallout 3 will crash if the spybot search and destroy teatimer app is running. I have not used the game online so disableing your firewall etc if you are online is done at your own risk.

Yes you are correct that the firewall is dangerouse, but sometimes the antivirus can cause games and other programes alike to either slow or crash.

 

[Scott89]

Fallout 3 won’t work at all for some reason!
On the launcher screen when I click play, the game will attempt to load. It’s a black screen with the hour glass cursor in the middle. Then the game crashes to my desktop and the error message says “An error has been encountered and the program needs to shut down.” I have tried so many different solutions but non have worked.

I have Windows XP and a radeon 9600 video card.

Is anyone having the same problem or know how to fix?
What the hell is going on! I haven’t even got to see the introduction of the game.
Please help!

 

[JayClericus]

got it on steam and found the save game button is well worth using, even fully patched it crashes a lot, as for using a radeon 9600 card, check the minium specs as it might be more than that