Just an idea, maybe it helps getting to a solution without more install headache:
Maybe it would be less hassle to build yourself a paper wallet. Instead of the 13 nice words you'll have an ugly private key, I know, but you can get the zip from bitaddress.org page, build the paper wallet offline and .. done.
Unzip and browser should not be a problem, I hope.
Thanks that's probably true, but this isn't meant for me, it's for computer-iliterate friends to have a more secure environment to bitcoin from. The premise being most people use Windows, and who knows what malware they may have on their system.
I'd just like to get a USB with a clean linux OS and a working electrum in their hands.