many of the previous replies have touched on what i would have added.
FWIW: i live on live-boots (no pun intended :) for all kinds of diagnostic work, and temp work env's.
for this I use knoppix. it's one of the best (IMHO) live-boot linux dists out there.
ironically, knoppix is debian based. so i'm not sure why deb-live would be problematic, but maybe knoppix will serve your live-boot needs - if it boots....