I have tried searching for a solution to this problem on my own several times. It is not covered in any of the generic guides I've found. I have tried asking this question on several forums, and the only answer I ever get is someone posting a link with instructions on how to install the game. I'm just pointing this out before someone sends me a link to yet another guide.

I bought Fallout 3 GOTY from Steam. When I installed it, I was not aware of the special steps that were necessary to remove Games for Windows Live. I tried launching the game for the first time with a mod already installed. (something the special instructions said explicitly NOT to do) The game crashed upon start-up.

I un-installed the game and Games for Windows Live and I have tried re-installing a few times now but, the application always crashes when I click "Play". I have followed the instructions on all subsequent attempts.

I am assuming the problem is that there is still something left from the bad install that doesn't get removed when I use the un-install utility in Windows. Can someone tell me how to remove all traces of the game from my machine so I can start fresh? Or is there another way I can fix this?

Thank you in advance for your time.

Open the install location (I don't use Steam so cannot direct you to the install path), and look for anything related to Fallout 3.

Navigate to your Documents/My Games/ and look for anything related to Fallout 3 and delete it. Shut down your computer and restart.

Also do a search your computer for Fallout 3 using the Windows search.