Sometimes, when opening an application, you may encounter a Bad Image error message. Error Status 0xc00012f (application name) is either not designed to run on Windows or contains an error. And when you try to dismiss this error by pressing OK, it appears again. Mostly, this Error starts appearing very often after either downloading and installing a defective Windows update or updating a Windows computer to an iteration of Windows 8/10 that has the defective update pre-installed. The entire error message is like
“Application name.exe – Bad Image”
“C:\Windows\AppPatch\example.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support. Error status 0xc000012f”
Fix Bad Image error status 0xc000012f
As discussed, the Bad Image error occurs when Windows cannot run the programs you tried to run, typically because the files and libraries needed to run them are corrupted by an update. There are various reasons for this error status 0xc000012f, such as misconfigured system settings, corrupted registry entries, excessive startup programs, or fragmented files.
After Understand this Bad Image, Error Status 0xc000012f, And the Reason Behind the problem. Let’s discuss some applicable solutions to fix the Bad Image, error status 0xc000012f on a Windows computer.
Basic Solutions To Apply
Start with Basic Solution. Make sure any virus or malware infection is not causing the Issue by performing A full system scan. Also Run Free System Optimizer tool like Ccleaner to clean junk, Cache, System error files, windows log files, memory dumps, etc which free up disk space. Also, Run Registry Cleaner to fix missing and broken registry Entries.
After that, if this Bad Image error status 0xc000012f occurs only for a specific Application ( Example: while opening Google Chrome), other applications work properly, then we recommend reinstalling the application. Or for Windows, built-in applications offer the Reset/Repair option in Settings -> Apps -> Apps & Features -> Select the problematic application -> Advanced options -> perform the Repair/Reset option.
Uninstall the Culprit Program
Also, if you notice the Bad image error started with a certain 3rd party program or Security software, then Try To uninstall them and check if there is no more error status 0xc000012f.
To uninstall a recently installed application, press Win + R, Type appwiz.cpl, and press the Enter key. Then double-click on the program that is responsible for Error Status 0xc00012f and selects the options Uninstall.
You Can Visit the respective website to download the program if it is essential for you, and install it on your computer.
Run System File Checker
As discussed, corrupted and missing System files mostly cause this bad image error status 0xc000012f. So you must Run The System File Checker Tool, which scans and restores missing or damaged system files, which helps to fix this bad image error.
To Run SFC Utility (System File Checker) First open command prompt as administrator. Then Type command SFC /SCANNOW and press Enter.
It will run a system check for all corrupted files and programs on the computer. If any missing or corrupted system files are found, the utility restores them from a special folder located at %WinDir%\System32\dllcache. Wait until the Scanning process is 100% complete. After that, restart Windows and check if the bad image error is gone.
Note: If the SFC Utility Results system file checker found some corrupt files but was unable to fix them, then run the DISM Tool, which repairs the System image and allows SFC to do its job.
Uninstall the defective update
Also, some Windows Experts Report That Error Status 0xc00012f on Windows 10 is often caused by the KB2879017 update. If you have installed it, and this bad image error status 0xc000012f started after that, then we recommend uninstalling the update by following the steps below.
Open control panel Navigate to Programs and features, On the left panel, click View installed updates. Here On the right panel, located on the Windows update version that causes the error and click Uninstall. Restart your computer to effect the Changes, After that check, the error gets resolved.
We remind you that a few users report that uninstalling Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 has solved this problem on their computers. Hence, uninstall this feature using this wizard and ensure whether Error Status 0xc00012f in Windows 10 Bad image no longer exists.
Run an Automatic Repair
If all the above methods failed to fix it, then run Windows Automatic Repair and let Windows fix the issue for you. For this process, you need Windows installation Media. If you don’t have any create using this link. When you are ready with the installation media, insert it into the computer, change the BIOS setup, and Boot from the installation media.
Select language preferences and click Next. Click Repair your computer in the bottom-left.
Next, from the list, click the Troubleshoot option. Go to Advanced options and select Automatic Repair.
This will restart and start the repair process, wait until the Repair process is complete after restarting Windows, and check whether it helped to fix the error status 0xc000012f or not.
Fix Bad Image error on Chrome
Error message: Chrome.exe – Bad Image. A particular file is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Error status 0xc000012f.
If you are getting a bad image error status 0xc000012f while opening the Google Chrome Browser. open C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data. Then Find the folder Default and rename it to Default.bkp.
Now, open Chrome again to check if the problem is resolved or not.
Bad Image Error on MS Office Application
If getting Bad Image Error on MS Office Applications, such as while opening MS Excel, Word, getting bad image error status 0xc000012f. To fix this issue,
- Press Win + R, Type appwiz.cpl, and hit the Enter key.
- Then select and right-click on Microsoft Office, select Change,
- Select Repair, and follow the on-screen instructions.
Let the repair run in the background as it can take some time to complete. After That Restart windows And check the Error is gone.
Perform System Restore
If all the above methods failed to fix this Bad Image error, then it’s time to utilize the Windows System Restore feature. Which Revert Windows System to a previous working state without any data loss. But you can only utilize this method if you enabled the System protection Feature Before.
These are some Most applicable solutions to fix Bad images, error status 0xc000012f on Windows computers. I hope that after applying the above solutions, your problem (application.exe is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error in Windows 10) will be solved. Face any difficulty while applying these solutions or have any query or suggestion about this post feel free to discuss on comments below.
