when you boot from the CD try knoppix = failsafe

i think thats right it should boot with virtually no hardware detection.

if i'm right in what your saying your just hitting enter when you see to boot screen. I'm not sure if it's important to do as i'm still learning but you could also try knoppix lang = us

I may be wrong in saying this at it maybe that these are just things that can be done as extra at start up but if you check out the Knoppix cheat codes maybe some might help