I know that it's not an "Official Distro" but if your just going through the rudimentary basics you could try pUbuntu ( http://portableubuntu.demonccc.com.ar/ ). It will run without the need for commercial virtualization software. It uses a Co-linux setup and the slirpnet driver for network. There is nothing to install in windows, and I don't think you need admin rights to run it.

I was just wondering at which point we changed the subject from Unix to DOS (Disk Operating System - the precurser to MSDOS, DRDOS, Windows, etc... IE - C:\insert_dir_here ).??