Hi i had this problem something worth looking at is in C:\Windows\System32 on vista 32 there should be a file called dxgi.dll right click it and go to properties then click the details tab.
Where it says file version mine was 6.0 etc and the game would not load giving this error i updated that file in that folder to dxgi.dll with a file version of 7.0 in C:\Windows\System32
( https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxsGW3NIIkVfc1d2WDF1REVnOUE/edit?usp=sharing ) dxgi.dll v7.0
just copy and paste the file if you have permission problems you will have to take ownership of dxgi.dll in the system32 folder if you dont know how to do that google taking ownership of a file in vista.
I also put a copy of dxgi.dll v7.0 in C:\Program Files\Origin Games\Battlefield 3 folder not sure if that did anything but didnt hurt to have it there anyway.
I had tried everything else i had seen on these forums and this was the ONLY thing that would work for me following a fresh install of vista to get another game to work the joys of pc gaming it wont change just find a way 🙂 hope this helps someone like me sorry if it doesnt.
