How discouraging for you!

Here's my first thought, right off the bat - you may have a bad version of 3.8.1 that was corrected later (or maybe the earlier CEBIT version 3.8, which might have been German-only (but I don't know)). Check my uname printout:
  • Linux mr_ed 2.6.11 #8 SMP Sun Mar 20 21:09:51 CET 2005 i686 GNU/Linux
So first, you might try downloading it again.

Next, I recommend that you not install it. Knoppix isn't designed for installing to hard drive - it's fine-tuned to be a live CD. Check other posts here, and you'll find users have problems with hard-drive Knoppix in three areas.

One is that the installation script is a tad buggy. And I have a major issue with it forcing you to install a bootloader whether you need a new one or not.

Second is that installation generates random problems that don't exist when Knoppix is run from CD - broken ethernet support, broken CD-ROM access, and other strange stuff.

Third, people will install something new or update something in the distro and find that stuff no longer works together. Other folks here like Kanotix, while some of us recommend a pure Debian. Sarge, from Debian, works very well. So does Progeny Debian.

Here's another suggestion - go ahead and let Knoppix (or whatever) install a bootloader to the MBR. LILO for sure, and GrUB I believe, saves the existing MBR before writing over it. So your Winloader can be restored that way. And Windows itself can restore its bootloader. But it's not as powerful or flexible as LILO or GrUB.

Something else - it's very easy to zero the Partition Boot Sector, which will wipe out a bad bootloader.. But it's also very easy to zero out your MBR or some other necessary part of the drive. I won't go into details because you probably won't need to do it - but ask if you're interested

Final thought - try not to spend that much time frustrated with something that's supposed to be fun and easy! Unix-like operating systems, and Linux/GNU in particular, have come a long way, and there are lots and lots of choices.

Have fun, be happy, and remember to burn a new CD after about three times of flinging it across the room in frustration!

-- Ed