I have the same problem. I'm trying to install on a brand new, empty HD, and after the first black "windows loading files" screen, and the logo, I get the blue wallpaper-looking screen. The mouse pointer has the spinning circle next to it for a few seconds, and then.. nothing. No message, and no indication that the computer is working, cd-rom being read etc.. But I can still move the pointer, so it's not completely frozen.
I'm no computer wiz, but I've tried a few things, updating the bios, partioning and formatting the HD etc, but this keeps happening. One detail that might be interesting is that a couple of times, instead of the situation mentioned above, I have gotten an i/o error on the first black screen.. Something about removable storage not being connected? I thought maybe it was the new HD, but bios detects is fine, and it seems to work fine in XP. Anyway, I guess (hope) these two types of behaviors have the same cause.
I'll try the method with unplugging as much as possible tomorrow, and report back.