Fallout 3 Freezing???

I am currently in Rivet City on Fallout 3. When I load the game, within 10 seconds it freezes so I can't really play the game.
Does anybody know how to solve this?
I haven't got xbox live, does this make any differance?
I have turned the screensaver off but it hasn't made any differance.
Any help, please?

I just have to say this...where did you get that "Killer Clowns From Outer Space" pic?

take the saved game and back it up on an external if you can and then take the game off ur system or...have you got all patches and updates?...earlier versions have had this prob

I know this is old, but this is for anybody that is looking to solve the freezing problem problem.

This constant freezing has driven me nuts the past few weeks and nothing worked (FFd show didnt even work nor fresh installs), but I think I found the problem If you have windows live installed and enabled (in the game) make sure you go to window firewall and put the Fallout in private and public settings. I have found that windows firewall blocks windows lives' outgoing connection (go figure right) causing the game to freeze and crash (including mini freezes).