Inspiron 6000 won't boot after XP update

6000 will not boot after Windows security update.  After the initial BIOS screen on a cold start, I get the next screen with the blue banner on the top that includes "www.dell.com".  I get one line next, "Loading PBR 2...done".  The next line is just a blinking cursor and that is were everything stops.  No HD activity at all.  I can not get to the Windows XP splash screen to execute F8 options.

I have run a full detailed hardware diagnostics including memory and the hard drive.  It took over two hours and everything passed.  My hard drive is only three months old and I have 2GB ram.

I have run the recovery console twice from the reinstall CD and ran fixboot successfully both times.  Still will not boot.  I have not run fixmbr for fear that I may lose all my files  The files are still all there.

When I upgraded my HD from the original 60GB to the new 160GB, I used GIG utilities to do an image transfer.  It worked great and I did not trigger activation with Windows.  That original 60 GB HD still exists with all the files intact. I could swap the two HDs to verify that it is only a boot problem with the current HD resulting from the last security (an oxymoron) update.  It may trigger activation and I would like to avoid that pain.

A Windows repair is always an option, but does come with some potential negatives such as the possible loss of some application installations.  I am hoping for the silver bullet that could avoid this option.