I've been searching for a solution, but every one I find seems to be different, and nobody can seem to agree which one is most likely to work. Can anyone help me out?
You download the game, either on Steam, GOG, or *legally*, and run the setup...
What? You do know that Fallout 3 is not compatible with windows 7 by default, right?
It always worked perfectly fine for me on Windows 7. Every. Single. Time.
It always works for me and never crashes. Same with Fallout:NV.
I guess you two have better luck than me. I was able to find a solution that worked for me elsewhere.
FO3 and NV have both worked for me vanilla or with light modding. Never even knew it was incompatible.
But since you did find a solution you might as well link it here, maybe someone else has a problem and it would be easier for him to find.