Technical problems FAQ

If you can't get the Fallout games to run the way you want, or are having trouble with bugs, here's the place to ask for help.
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Fez
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Post by Fez »

Well, "d00d", have you considered that your PC or discs are at fault, if you are not screwing it up yourself? Does the disc work for anyone else? You might just have bad luck and a fault has occurred.

I have a working copy by running the setup.exe in compatibility mode. That was the easiest and correct method for me to do it. I've done it a number of times now without fail. Perhaps you could try another disc or PC?
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Post by jermandubber »

yes, ive considered that the pc and/or the disc may be at fault.
if the discs were free, id surely go and get another one to try.
i dont have another pc to try.
and i am not positive i did the manual install right, thats why im posting here and asking. im no computer whiz, but i do know that it seems funky to me that just renaming a text file to .exe would all of the sudden make it an exe file.
i also know that someone said on here or on nma that there can be a problem opening it after a manual instal and a way to fix that is make a short cut to the desktop and then select compatibility to win95 and start it up from there... only problem is i cant select compatibility because its still a text file.
the guide didnt say anything about changing it from a text file to an exe file, just to rename it to .exe
thats why im asking here about how i did it and maybe if im not getting all the steps.
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Fez
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Post by Fez »

I had a read through the guide and as far as I can see it doesn't tell you to rename a text file to an exe. It tells you to rename it to a "cfg" file.
Create a text file in c:\games\fallout1 or c:\games\fallout2 called fallout.cfg or fallout2.cfg
It does tell you to copy a file that should be ~1Mb off the disc and change the end of it into .exe instead of "___".

I suppose you've been through and checked a few times and started from scratch more than once to make sure you are getting it right?

If the discs are damaged though, you are stuck unless you can get another copy. They were giving away Fallout for free recently on a few magazines.
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Post by jermandubber »

well i did forget to mention one thing...
the manual install guide says to dl the patch and install it after you finish manual installing. i dled the patch but when i opened it and read the read me file, it said not to install if i had the 1.1 version... i wasnt sure which i had so i didnt install.
i just installed it because i couldnt think of anything else to do and now i have the right exe file and it opens up the game. i just watched the intro movie and when i got to the menu screen, everything was messed up. the colors were all staticy and i couldnt see how to select anything.
any ideas on what to do now?
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Post by jermandubber »

Fez wrote:It does tell you to copy a file that should be ~1Mb off the disc and change the end of it into .exe instead of "___".

I suppose you've been through and checked a few times and started from scratch more than once to make sure you are getting it right?
that was the file i was wondering about. i dunno how to change the end of it.
but that doesnt matter because installing the patch seemed to have worked though the menue screen is all messed up now.

i went into the new fallout.exe's properties and i can change the compatibility so im changing that to win95 to see if that will change anything.

sorry that i might seem to be post whoring, but it helps me to kinda talk things out, and i figure that way anyone who looks can see what ive tried and where i might be going wrong if what i try doesnt work.
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Post by Fez »

It's not a problem. The renaming of the "___" file was where you got stuck. All you'd need to do is make sure that the file extensions are always shown and you can rename the file to any type you want in the same way you change the file name normally.

I hope it is working for you now, have fun with Fallout.
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Post by jermandubber »

how would i go about making sure the extensions are shown and being able to ename them?

so i cant seem to get the menu screen thing fixed. when i let the intro go through it loads up and i can make out its the menu screen, but the colors seem to be reversed and horribly pixelated.... not to mention that i cant make anything out to select it.
though the intro plays just fine.
when i skip the intro, the screen turns bright green and shows the brian fargo text in the middle of it, like at the begining of the intro...
ive made sure the compatibility is set to 95... ive changed my display settings to 800x600 and 16 bit color... i dunno what to do to fix this problem now.
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Post by Fez »

To make sure you can always see a file's extension:

Open a folder --> choose the "tools" menu at the top --> folder options --> choose the view tab --> untick the box that says "hide extensions for known file types" --> choose apply.

That should do it. There are some other options that might interest you in there too.

Fallout runs at 640 X 480 resolution, BTW.

To change the name and extension of a file, just click once on it and once on the name of it. Don't double click fast or you will open the file, do it as to seperate single clicks. It'll work the same as a text editor, like posting here, just type in there. Whatever is past the period "." is the extension. ".exe" ".txt".
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Post by jermandubber »

alright, ill try 640x480...

and dude, thank you very much for that bit of info about the folder options bit... now i can get rid of those damn viruses and spyware easier because i now know how to show hidden items.
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Post by jermandubber »

nope, changing the screen resolution isnt helping it... sigh.
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Post by Fez »

General tips:

To cut back a lot of security problems and spyware:

Get Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy. Both are free and easy to use.

Change your browser to Firefox if you haven't already. Also free.

Run a firewall and get some anti-virus software, if you haven't got one, you should get one as soon as possible. There are free ones available.
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Post by jermandubber »

hey look, this is going off topic.
just so you dont think im a retard though, i have some good spyware programs, i am using firefox, and im not gonna try and deal with a firewall and a 56k modem at the same time. id get some antivirus software, but this computer is real crappy anyway (i.e. 10 gig HD, 196 MB ram, something like 133mhz processor... you get the picture) and im just using it to bide time wile i save up money to either build or purchase a better one.
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Post by Fez »

Just making sure. I wouldn't want your system to get raped by something after you spend ages trying to get the game working. :D

For Fallout, perhaps a clean start and carefully going through the instruction with the newly gained knowledge might work? Delete it all and start at step one.
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Post by Filize »

Hey, is there a way to get Fallout 1 (or 2) to run in a window under windows XP?
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Post by entertainer »

Filize wrote:Hey, is there a way to get Fallout 1 (or 2) to run in a window under windows XP?
Yes. :drunk:
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Post by [HpA]SniperPotato »

Entertainer, I am glad you are here to help. :dance:
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