You may encounter a Bad Image error when running some games and programs like Chrome or Office on Windows 11 and Windows 10. The issue explains that “The program (program path) is not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error” and points to the error code 0xc000012f or 0xc0000020.
Bad Image on Windows 11 or 10
Bad Image means that the executable file of the program or one of the auxiliary modules is damaged. The error logs show the error code 0xc000012f, which refers to STATUS_INVALID_IMAGE_NOT_MZ. This means that the versions or bitness of DLLs can be confused. For example, you only have Microsoft Visual C ++ Redistributable 2012 installed, and you need Microsoft Visual C ++ Redistributable 2015, or you installed Visual C ++ Redistributable 32-bit for 64-bit Windows 11 or 10. You need to install Visual C ++ Redistributable 64-bit as well.
The saddest thing about this error is that the culprit can be different components like damage to system files pointing to the atiglpxx.dll and atiuxpag.dll libraries, which are related to the video card drivers, Framework or DirectX. Let’s look at how to fix Bad Image error 0xc000012f or 0xc0000020 in Windows 11/10.
6 Ways to Fix Error 0xc000012f and 0xc0000020 on Windows 11/10
1. Checking and restoring system files
Run Command Prompt as administrator
Execute two commands lines:
sfc /scannow DISM /ONLINE /CLEANUP-IMAGE /RESTOREHEALTH
2. Microsoft Visual C ++ Redistributable
Sometimes the problem is in the Visual C ++ Redistributable due to the inclusion of filenames like msvcr or msvcp. In this case, you do not have it installed, it is not installed correctly, or the bit depth is mixed up. For example, the error pointed to the msvcr110.dll file and was missing from the system. If you look at the properties of this file on another PC, you will find that it is a component of Visual C ++ Redistributable 2012 that you need to download and install.
To start, open “uninstall programs” by pressing Win + R and entering appwiz.cpl or go through the control panel. Check out your Visual C ++ Redistributable versions, which should be installed in two bits (x86) and (x64). Also, choose the Visual C ++ Redistributable by clicking the mouse and clicking the “Change” option on top. Now click on Repair in a new window to restore the default component and fix installer errors. If you don’t know which one, do the correction with everyone.
Note: If the error points to another program like Office, try to repair it through the installer. Edit> Repair.
If they are, in principle, absent or there is not enough bit depth, then they need to be downloaded from the official Microsoft website. Before installing a new version, remove the old ones, if any.
- Download Visual C ++ 2015
- Download Visual C ++ 2012
- Download Visual C ++ 2010
Important: Please note before downloading. You have to download two versions, x64 and x86 and install them.
3. Remove the update patch
Specifically, Bad Image error code 0xc000012f is known due to an issue with the Cumulative Security Update for IE 10 on Windows 8 x64 (KB2936068). In other cases, if you encounter an error after updating Windows 11/10, you must remove this patch.
Head over to the Settings app> Updates and Security > right side Windows Update > View Update History> Uninstall Updates. In a new window, “determine by the date” the patch after which the error began to be displayed, and delete it.
4. Video card driver
If you see the atiglpxx.dll and atiuxpag.dll in the error message then it is related to the video card drivers. You need to completely and correctly remove them and download them again.
5. Cleaning up unnecessary files
Windows can become clogged with unnecessary and leftover files that can interfere with your system, games, and programs. Type Win + R and enter cleanmgr to run Disk Cleanup.
6. NET Framework
If the message indicates .NET Framework, then you need to download this component from the official Microsoft website and install it. Before that, delete the old one, if it is in the “uninstall programs”. If you are running a very old game or program on Windows 11/10, then you need to enable .NET Framework versions 2.0 and 3.5 in the system itself.
