Update causing BSoD for some XP users

[UPDATE: Microsoft has withdrawn the update KB977165 from the Windows Update for this week. I've updated my patch removal instructions below to remove this update first.]

Reports are coming in that an update released this week by Microsoft for the Windows XP is causing problems for some users.

The problem is particularly nasty in that it causes a BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) with the error "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA" and then sends the system into an endless cycle of reboots.

So, which patch is causing the problem? At present we don't know, so the best fix it to uninstall all of the updates that were applied during this month's Patch Tuesday.

If you're suffering from this problem then there is a fix, albeit a convoluted one.

1. Boot your XP system from the CD/DVD and enter the Recovery Console.
2. At the Command Prompt type: CHDIR $NtUninstallKB977165$\spuninst
3. At the Command Prompt type: BATCH spuninst.txt
4. At the Command Prompt type: systemroot
5. While step 2 removes the most likely culpit, if you continue to experience problems repeat steps 2 to 4 but replacing KB977165 in step 2 with each of the following in turn: KB978706 KB978262 KB978251 KB978037 KB977914 KB975713 KB975560 KB971468
6. When you've finished, type the following: exit

The above represents the best fix that I've been able to find for this problem.

Any one out there affected?