When I got fallout 3 goty I installed the game on my windows 8 laptop and it did not load it said xlive.dll was missing and i searched the web for hours and I download games for windows live and then when I launch the game now it just loads the launcher menu

This could be due to the fact that the game may not be downloaded properly. It might be an issue with the setup for the game.

I would suggest you to download and install the game again to try and fix the issue.

You can refer to the link to check the compatibility status of this game as the game looks compatible with Windows 8:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/win8/CompatCenter/ProductDetailsViewer?Name=Fallout%203&vendor=Bethesda%20Softworks&Locale=1033%2C2057%2C3081%2C4105%2C16393&ModelOrVersion=1&BreadCrumbPath=fallout%203&Type=Software&tempOsid=win8

Now, follow the steps to reinstall the game:

Step 1:
Uninstall the game from the computer that is currently installed. Follow the steps:
a) Press Windows and X key and select Programs and Features.
b) Locate Fallout 3 game and double click on the game icon.
c) Follow the onscreen instructions to uninstall the game.

Step 2:
Place the computer in a clean boot state and install the game.

You can refer to the link to place the computer in a clean boot state:

“How to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot a problem in Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8”

Refer the section “Windows 8”

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: Please refer the section: How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot of the Kb article to boot the computer in normal startup after fixing the issue.