The above answer is incorrect. You can compile the modules you need, store them on the usb key, and insmod them when you have booted up. Look at what people are doing to load winmodem drivers in other threads. This is a pretty common question. Mostly you have to compile the modules, then just manually load them when you need them. I did this for a week or so for my office laptop (I wasn't allowed to replace XP with linux). I compiled the modules for my LT winmodem and copied them to my thumb drive. After that I just manually loaded the modules after boot up.