Possible to install from CD using distutils?

[Bob Smith]

Hi.  I'm trying to distribute a Python package on a CD-ROM that gets
installed using distutils.  The problem is that distutils attempts to
write a new 'build' folder on the CD during the installation and fails
(it of course can't write the to CD).  I know the user could copy my
files onto his hard drive and then install the package, but I'm trying
to make the installation as simple as possible.  So... is there a way
to tell distutils to use the hard drive when it's being run from a CD?

Thanks.

Bob