Fallout 3 Crashing and locking up comp

[Drazhar]

Hey all. Not sure when this started but Fallout 3 has been crashing or freezing my computer pretty regulary and randomly when playing the game. I have no idea why and have been troubleshooting online to try and find solutions but not much has helped. I say randomly because it has happened while doing next to nothing in the game, but does seem to occur the most when going through transition stages (loading screens), such as opening a door to a new area or fast travelling. I recently made it to Rivet City which has many loading screens when going between decks of the boat, so every 2-3minutes I get a crash. Anyway, any help would be appreciated as i'm getting quite sick of these crashes.

My computer is about 7 years old, but it runs all other games pretty well. Fallout has been the only real problem. When I reboot after a crash it notes the serious error, I sent the data report which it got back to me saying that it is unknown what caused the error but may be audio related. Here's the info for my system. (Note: im not that great with computer knowledge, obviously)
Computer:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU
6700 @ 2.66GHz
1.98 GB of RAM
Microsoft Windows Xp

 

[Kercyn]

I haven't played Fallout 3, but it requires 1 GiB more RAM than you have. I also suspect that your graphics card doesn't support a game like Fallout 3 either. Try lowering all values in the appropriate "Graphics" section to the lowest, and see how it goes. If it still crashes, well, maybe your computer isn't up to it...

 

[Drazhar]

It seems fine though, running it that is. Thanks for your advice though, I really do need to upgrade.

I tried lowering and playing it, I was able to play it for 2 hours without a crash(not meaning that there was one after 2 hours, I just closed it), but then again I played it for like 5 hours on saturday without any crashing... I think it's Rivet city mainly. I also deleted a fair few of the save files that were not needed and cleaned up the folder a bit, seemed to help. Thanks for your response

 

[Gilles]

If it still persists, I'd try a reinstall or if the game comes with a repair exe. use that. I'd also make sure my drivers were all up-to-date.

 

[Drazhar]

Well I had actually just reinstalled because I bought the official game with the expansions, so I uninstalled the unofficial one and then installed the new one. Both versions crashed like this. Anyway, it's been ok for a while now, but I haven't been back to the area where it was crashing the most either.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Some information on the error of the crash would be useful. A memory out of bounds error for example is usually a program fault.

The fact it locks your computer up and your system is 7 years old could also mean a unreliable hard disk. Hard disks are one of the most fault prone pieces of hardware in a computer due to their mechanical nature.

Try tweeking the game options (in the option file, where more fields are available). I think fallout 3 was made with the same game engine as TES Oblivion which was notorious for being unstable (especially on older systems like yours).

 

[BlargHonk]

That computer is 7 years old and has a processor from 2007? Callin BS on that.

Anyways, it's probably because Fallout 3 was made on the horrible "gamebryo" engine, crashes on everyones computer >_>


But yes, if the drive is failing, use a disc diagnostic such as SeaTools (works with drives other than Seagate), it can confirm it.

 

[General Frank]

It doesn't crash my PC and in the event it does crash I am the one responsible for crashing it (tab-ing out of the game and stuff like that).

I second the recommendations of DSG and BlargHonk, but think it is the drivers of you GPU, lie Gilles said.

 

[Drazhar]

That computer is 7 years old and has a processor from 2007? Callin BS on that.

Anyways, it's probably because Fallout 3 was made on the horrible "gamebryo" engine, crashes on everyones computer >_>


But yes, if the drive is failing, use a disc diagnostic such as SeaTools (works with drives other than Seagate), it can confirm it.

It is 'about' 7, maybe 6 and a half years old, it was custom made by a friend who makes computers for a living. And the parts he used were 'the best' according to him, and at the time it ran really well compared to other comps.

DSG: the error message I get doesn't actually explain why it crashes, it says it's an 'unknown error'. Also I probably do need a new hard drive, though im actually considering a new comp all together, it'd probably be cheaper than upgrading this one.

But thanks for the info guys, it has actually been ok since I lowered the settings and everything, but I still do get the occasional crash but as Blarg said, and from what i've read online, im not the only one... it was when I was getting a crash every 3mins of gametime that it was ridiculous.

 

[Dr Super Good]

You have cleaned out the heatsinks from dust buildup right? Such a major difference between low and high settings can be caused by overheating introducing instability.

 

[Drazhar]

You have cleaned out the heatsinks from dust buildup right? Such a major difference between low and high settings can be caused by overheating introducing instability.

Not for a while, thats a good idea though.

 

[88WaRCraFT3]

I Had same problem... believe me or not. there are around 3 ways to fix it.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1525127
download Fallout slutter remover
remove battle music from fallout 3
cause sounds can cause a lot of bugs... lame really same for radio i've forget where i found fix for it. i know i had 10000 bug fixes and still game was crashing every 2-3 hours.
Download Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch.
Try using older version of Fallout 3, it would be better then with latest.
i was having problems with fallout for months and when i made it to work for 2-3 hours at least, i got bored of it.
EDIT: one really nice way to fix game, download Fake fullscreen, Fallout version, sadly you can't choose max resulotion it would be always your dekstop one, so if you wanna play fallout and your PC is poor, set your resolution to 800x600 or more idk... test it your self.
I'll recommend you using this site for most of things i said to you :
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/
it's best site for downloads, also if your performance is weak, or you have trouble with lag download this
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13520
and Fallout 3 Slutter Remover that i already told you at top
hope it helps