I got that from time to time and it never really went away despite all the antivirus and reinstalls until i reinstalled Windows altogether. Now that obviously isn't a solution when a single game doesn't work (With my circumstances, it was going to happen anyway - BSOD ect)
Though i found launching it with launchpad then hitting 'Kill Client' multiple times till disco was totally gone from my RAM that seemed to fix it until the next couple re-logs. I also tried windowed mode which worked for a while. Alt+Enter when it opens the menu. Connect to the server using the desired character then returning to full screen once i was in the game and actually sitting in space. Though both of these suggestions are as temperamental as the game. Good old disco eh?
I also found that ceasing the use of Alt+F4 to close the game quickly also helped a bit, probably it doesn't like being killed like that.
Well, apparently you're not the only one with this issue. I have it as well. And i'm sure it's not because of my anti-virus... Or any saved games (i have none) :/
Well is interesting this problem , i dont know what to say in 5 years of playing freelancer multiplayer (and single player) i haven't received any crash.