I just installed it and have no problems.Posted at 6:32PM on Oct 29th 2008 by Sokkratez

I strongly suspect that the large majority of users who have "trouble installing" Fallout 3 are actually having "trouble pirating" Fallout 3. I installed it and it was totally seamless -- there's not even a CD key, unless you want to get on Live.

I grant you, PCs being PCs, some outlier somewhere has a yum-cha DVD drive and precisely the wrong combination of motherboard and RAM that somehow breaks SecuROM, but that's going to happen to all sorts of technologies. No protection at all might be a little better, but if it's got to have *something*, at least it's not from EA :(Posted at 8:00PM on Oct 29th 2008 by James

Also no problems... Also, the game is awesome.

"totally seamless" Yep, agreed. No key.Posted at 9:20PM on Oct 29th 2008 by Nerdman

If all the people having "trouble installing" were pirates, SecuROM would not have released an official patch to fix the problem: http://www.securom.com/message.asp?m=emu&c=2500

Obviously, legit users are being affected, and discounting the problem--especially without any evidence whatsoever--helps no one. After all, sure, maybe you're fine now, but you just might be the next to suffer a similar bug on the next game you install, and you'll feel wonderful when everyone starts calling you a pirate when you can't get your legitimately purchased $50 game to run.

We're all gamers here. We should be supporting each other, not assuming the worst in each other.Posted at 10:51PM on Oct 29th 2008 by DQ

"In case you encounter this error during launching the installation of "Fallout 3" please run the setup.exe manually from the disc."

Sounds like the problem is for people who have securom installed before they installed fallout, not like it's installed by the game itself.

If not, I guess I'll have a fun time trying to get my money back.Posted at 2:05AM on Oct 30th 2008 by Tyggen

Also note that the Steam version is Securom free.Posted at 11:41AM on Oct 30th 2008 by Ghede

"Also note that the Steam version is Securom free."

Yeah I was gonna ask about that. Installed from Steam flawlessly, although I've had one CTD in the five or so hours I've played it.Posted at 12:25PM on Oct 30th 2008 by Vertexavery

Installed seamlessly, running on Ultra High settings on Vista x64. I suspect that perhaps Bethesda was a little too generous on their "minimums" and that a lot of people having problems are trying to run it on what is essentially substandard hardware.

The folks who are complaining about any type of security on Bethesda's part are, I think, not seeing the big picture. Bethesda certainly has the right to protect their intellectual property, and if those who came before us hadn't been quite so quick to copy and share with everyone and their dog, we might not be in this DRM boat.

I wish it wasn't QUITE so much like Oblivion - I finally had to quit Oblivion because the inventory and key mappings got overwhelming. Oh, and I died the first time I tried to get into Megaton because I forgot and my muscle memory thought I was playing WoW. Having a hard time not clicking on everyone and using the 'E' to talk. *shrug* but that's my problem, not Beth's.Posted at 5:26PM on Oct 31st 2008 by Wonderlulu

Steam ftw.

All things considered, you would think they would avoid a fiasco like what happened with SPORE.

Then again, there's no way Bethesda could screw up as much as EA continously does.

Either way, SecuROM is hardly the mildest from possible. More along the lines of malware IMO. Posted at 8:59PM on Nov 5th 2008 by Vire

Guys, I have ZERO pirated games on my system.

I own recent copies of a number of games, several of them several Secure ROM based (SPORE, Mass Effect, Far Cry 2, and now, unknowingly, Fallout 3).

The gaming industry has done well by me for decades.

(Yes, I am an older guy)

These games have been installed in a all-patched-up-to-date XP system with ample hardware requirements, common but high-end components, and a fairly recent and clean system install.

But...

A big but...

since this recent round of secure ROM games, I have been having *tons* of problems with my system.

Mostly -- I suspect -- it's based on how their software screws around with the DVD player. Right now, I am searching the net because Medieval Total War 2 is no longer starting consistently. And windows takes about 3 or 4 times as long to boot up. And I get unrecognized CDs and DVDs.

No total war... total MESS.

I am totally disgusted with how poorly the copy protection software is done. Spitting mad. No problems prior to the last few games, now I can take several reboots to get a game less than a year old to start.

Don't give me the "only folks who pirate are having troubles" story. A total screwed up with their copy protection implementation.

As far as I am concerned, it's the people who *bought* copies who are having troubles, and I have completely lost sympathy for the companies who are locking down their software so poorly and with so much aggravation for their existing loyal customers.

It is seriously making me reconsider PC gaming.

Pirates. Publishers. A plague on both their camps!Posted at 8:24PM on Nov 17th 2008 by Doug

I got mine off steam but when i try to run the installer it says it can't find setup.exe(I don't have the disk)Posted at 12:23PM on Nov 20th 2008 by Anonymous

"Sounds like the problem is for people who have securom installed before they installed fallout, not like it's installed by the game itself."

This would appear to be the case. I installed Civ4: Colonization a few weeks ago, and this installed SecureROM on my system for the first time ever. Just now I am installing Fallout 3, only the 2nd game I now own that uses SecureROM.

The first time I popped the Fallout 3 disc in the drive, I got a windows popup titled "SecureROM Warning Message" and text along the lines of "Please insert the original game CD and not a copy" with only an "ok" dialog to close the popup. Very perturbed by this (i'd only just gotten back from the pc store, I hadn't even had the disc all of 15 mins and its refusing to install....?) I immediately ejected the disc and inserted it again to see if it would repeat the "error". This time it loaded the splash screen autostart as normal and is currently installing and appears to not have any more issues.

My retailer (EB Games) have not heard of the error message I got, and I cannot find anyone else with this specific "problem" although I can find plenty of other ppl who are having wierd issues installing games that use SecureROM, when SecureROM is already on the computer from another currently / previously installed game. Frankly this only annoys me more about SecureROM, they obviously have bugs in the current issues being used on the latest games and for DRM software to be so buggy is really not good enough, patch or no patch.Posted at 1:41AM on Dec 12th 2008 by Mordd

I'm so sick of the "pirate trolls" who suddenly feel like a "champion of all that is good" when they drop some snide remark on a person who wants to copy thier game.

WTH has happened to fair use law? IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE LEGAL to copy your own bloody games so you have an archival backup. Trust me, this comes in handy, especially for folks with children. Why is the community just cashing this right in? Games companies aren't what they used to be, and Beth ain't no indie guy trying to pay for his meals.

It's so annoying what a guy has to do to protect his investments these day (or god forbid you try and copy your music CD's to your MP3 player). Stop selling out people. Property rights need to be protected, but at what cost?

Anyway, are we buying a product or a license?

If it's a product that can't be copied, then the local computer store d*@m well needs to reverse their stupid policies on no-software returns when it gets home and it's bascially a coaster.

If it's a license then I should be able to easily copy or download the software so I can used my licensed material.

Give me an option. I'll register online, no sweat boss, but take the freaking CD locking junk OFF!

None of this stops pirates anyway. It only annoys genuine users. Secure ROM has been easy to hack for a long time.

-HHPosted at 6:31PM on Dec 15th 2008 by Hard Harry