PC Hell: How to Fix SVCHOST.EXE Application Error

I came across this error the other day at a customer's house. They have Windows XP Professional with a password set for the main administrator account.

When they turned their computer on and it came up to the user login screen. They were presented with this SVCHOST.EXE error message. The only options the error message allows are to click OK to terminate the program or click Cancel to debug the program. After asking them several questions about what they did before turning the computer off, it became apparent that Windows Update had run before the computer was shut down.

Interestingly enough, even starting the computer in Safe Mode produced the same error. While the event log in Windows XP indicates the faulting application is truly svchost.exe.

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