[Wylug-help] System hangs on USB - same error on different hardware and kernels

[Felix Ulrich-Oltean]

Hi

I'm really struggling to get my system up and running. I had a Debian 
unstable system going for about 5 years, then my hardware died.  I have 
assembled a new system.  I can't get my system to boot up.  I have 
tried:

-booting from my old SATA drive
-booting from the Debian 4 and 5 installation CDs

In each case, the system hangs just after saying stuff about ehci_hcd  
If I give the installation CDs the "nousb" option, then they do boot, 
but I need to rescue my hard drive - it has important photos, web 
sites, applications, etc.

Any ideas how I can get around these hangs?

Thank you,

Felix.