German Version
GTA 3 saves the game into
c:\eigene Dateien ("c:\own files" or so...).
i changed the path from the desktop-shortcut so gta can't find it and i could not save even with the originsl. after rearranging the shortcut everything worked fine.
I hope i could help someone with thid fact!
PS: I used the "Grand Theft Auto III NoCD Crack v.1.0.exe" file from gamecopyworld to backup the game and it worked (after copying the audio-stuff)