# [SOLVED] Fallout 3 randomly freezing



## Haligen

So this problem has plagued since I got the game which was a week ago. It will just randomly freeze at odd points in the game. sometimes its when I'm about the fire at a enemy. other times its in vats. sometimes its just when I'm turning around. So basically it happens randomly. I have uploaded a Dxdiag. Also sometimes its after a few minutes playing the game and other times it doesn't happen at all. sounds like a memory leak but I'm hoping someone may know a fix if its on bethesda's end which is what I'm guessing I can deal with it.

My system is as follows:
OS: Vista 32 bit
PSU: Cooler Master 1000w
GPU: Evga Nvidia 280 GTX
CPU: Intel Quad Core Q6600
RAM: Corsair roughly reads about 2 and a half sticks of it.
SC: X-FI Creative Fatality series
Mobo: Evga nforce 780i SLI

I've tried the audio exclusion on the ffdshow. I've also forced V-sync to be off since that seemed to (possibly) be causing problems. I've also updated the game to the latest patch. I have also dropped my antiaisling in the game to 2x I think it is. I also have turned off my EAX on my sound card since that could have been a problem as well. I've also looked at all the other posts for fallout 3 on here but none of them seemed to fit my issue quite right. Thanks for any suggestions on how to fix this issue.


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## pharoah

*Re: Fallout 3 randomly freezing*

try your onboard sound.i know alot of folks with nvidia chipset motherboards.have problems with creative sound cards


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## RockmasteR

*Re: Fallout 3 randomly freezing*

Hello, try this fix that I posted in here : 

http://www.techsupportforum.com/f219/fallout-3-fix-thread-342884.html

if you have any question, please do ask


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## Haligen

*Re: Fallout 3 randomly freezing*

I''ll try those ideas out thanks for the help, I'll reply back if one of them fixed my issue. Thanks again.


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## Haligen

*Re: Fallout 3 randomly freezing*

Just to clarify. I just need to start up the MaximizeWindow program and then start up Fallout 3 and MaximizeWindow should take care of the windowing? or do I need to do something else to allow for Maximizewindow to take effect. I only ask because I can't tell the difference except there are two windows up before Fallout 3 pops on instead of 1. If MaximizeWindow has done its duty then that's good but if not I would like to know. Thanks for the help.


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## RockmasteR

*Re: Fallout 3 randomly freezing*

I'll explain...

first, I think you added the lines in the shortcut of MaximizeWindow...

remember if you did set your game resolution at 1024 x 768, the Windows Desktop resolution should be at 1024 x 768

now right click on MaximizeWindow shortcut and click properties, in "target" box, the last line should be this : \MaximizedWindow.exe"

what you need to do is this \MaximizedWindow.exe" 10 1280 1024

10 : is the timeout (the game won't maximized until the dos box disappears)

1280 and 1024 are the resolution set to make the windowed disappear (it should be set a one res higher)

so if your game res is 1280 x 1024, your Desktop res should be the same, and you will write the next big res in the MaximizedWindow shortcut...

to launch the game, first click on the game shortcut, the menu should appear, go to options and select Windowed mode...

when you want to click on play, launch MaximizedWindow shortcut and then click play, depending on the timeout you gave the program to close the window mode will disappear.

of course every time you need to launch Fallout 3, you should launch MaximizedWindow before it, it could be a pain in the *** but it helps :smile:

Good Luck


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## Haligen

*Re: Fallout 3 randomly freezing*

Thanks I was wondering if it needed to be in windowed mode for it to work, seems logical that it would need to be. I will test it out and list that the thread has been solved if I don't get any freezes. Thanks again for the clarification.


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## Haligen

*Re: Fallout 3 randomly freezing*

Well I haven't had a freeze yet I think it is safe to assume that my problem is solved, especially since I'm running the game at the highest settings. Thanks for the help I will list this thread as solved.


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## RockmasteR

Glad to help 
Good luck with the game, it's one of the best


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## Ddraig

Adding This line

iNumHWThreads=2 

and editing this line (add if you don't have it)

bUseThreadedAI=1

Fixed my issue. Add it under the [general] tag to your fallout.ini file in your my documents\my games\fallout 3


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## Shion

Ddraig said:


> Adding This line
> 
> iNumHWThreads=2
> 
> and editing this line (add if you don't have it)
> 
> bUseThreadedAI=1
> 
> Fixed my issue. Add it under the [general] tag to your fallout.ini file in your my documents\my games\fallout 3


This fixed the freezing problem for me in Windows 7.
Before this the game froze every 5 to 10 minutes and I had to kill it with task manager. After changing the ini file I have not had any freezes :heartlove


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## lutronant

Ddraig said:


> Adding This line
> 
> iNumHWThreads=2
> 
> and editing this line (add if you don't have it)
> 
> bUseThreadedAI=1
> 
> Fixed my issue. Add it under the [general] tag to your fallout.ini file in your my documents\my games\fallout 3


did it for me, thanks dood


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## Ddraig

You're Welcome


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