my last email on this didn't go through, but regarding the message below.

i think installing a distro on a usb stick would be your best solution.
install a distro onto the usb drive, some distros have this as install option (fedora is one
of them) this means that whichever firefox addons or personal settings you prefer can be saved, and 
this usb drive can be used on any machine.

sim


2008/12/2  <staffslug@staffslug.org.uk>:
> Hi Kevan,
>
> staffslug@staffslug.org.uk wrote:
>  > Ok, for ages (as in a few years) I have been unable to coneect to the
>> web using a live CD or DVD.  Any distro' it didn't matter they simply
>> wouldn't work.  I wasn't bothered as I had my HD installs and they
>> were fine.  A couple of days ago I decided to try the latest Mandriva
>> One 2009 disk.  Nice distro' and quick for a live DVD.  But wait, I
>> was amazed, nay gobsmacked!!!!!  I could connect with no hassle, no
>> altering of configurations in the router, it just worked :-)
>
> TH: Oddly I've never had a problem with wired controllers and live
> discs. Even Gentoo's minimal disc...
>
> Or are you persisting with a wireless adapter?
 
Nope, this is purely a wired PC no wireless on it.
 
> Can you pull the lspci -v output for your NIC(s).
 
I could and was prepared to do that until I found that this live
distro was working :-)
 
>> Why?  I don't have a clue.  The only things different are that I'm now
>> using O2 as my ISP (£7.50 a month for unlimited dowloads and 8mb speed
>> which is max for my exchange) and I have the router that they sent
>> (Thomson). So I'm happy.  I just need to sort out a distro where I can
>> keep Firefox add ons and I can use a live DVD/CD all the time.  It is
>> vital that I use a particular add on for my Freecycle stuff.
>
> TH: I'm not sure why you need to use a live disc 24/7, or for freecycle
> exclusively (can you elaborate?) but you may be interested in the
> 'Reconstructor' project, that provides a nice GUI/plugin model for
> re-creating the Ubuntu live CDs to your own specifications.
 
Ah, I should elaborate.  I was actually apologising for being
hypocritical on the Wolves list.  I have about 4 PCs in my workshop
that all run various Linux distros.  This one in the house however
uses Win XP Pro.  There are bits of software that my kids use that are
solely Windows stuff and I've never really been inclined to see if
they will work with WINE or Crossover.  However, I've always wanted to
be able to use Linux on this PC so was forever trying the various live
CD/DVDs all to no avail.  Everything else worked great just not web at
all.  I can only assume it was something being blocked through my old
D-Link router.
 
The Freecycle bit is a plug in that has been written by a fellow
Freecycle moderator that cuts about 2 hours work down to 10 minutes
everyday.  It runs a treat on Firefox in both Linux and Windows so
that isn't a problem.  The problem is that I can't install it and its
preferences using a live disk.  I like the thought of remastering an
Ubuntu live distro though.
 
Of course, I could always just dual boot :-)
 
More than anything I'm just plain amazed that I can use a live disk
properly now :-)
-- 
==============================================
 
Kevan Farmer
Linux user #373362
Staffordshire