Steam.exe Bad image Error 0xc000012f HELP PLEASE

[Oceanlife]

Hello anyone with more brain cells than I can ever procure.
I have been having the most riping out my hair situation of my life and I've just about had it with my pc and am literally willing to toss the entire thing in the trash
Every single ****ing time I try and run steam I get this STUPID error message Steam.exe - Bad Image
Like OK. I feel like I've tried everything I can do that a basic computer user could do to no avail. 
I'm not some computer wizz kid and to be honest, I NEED someone's help. (hell I'll even pay you if I can just get my damn steam working again.
So, don't talk to me like I understand what dll is or drivers or any of that crap. Treat me like Michael Scott and I'm a toddler. The fact that this is an issue I have to deal with makes me literally wanna kms
OK SO What I do know is, when I had windows 10 I may have updated windows and then steam stropped working with the aforementioned  error we're reading and HOPEFULLY know how to fix? 
I decided, ok, lets just go back. No avail
Ok, let's just bite the bullet and reset EVERYTHING
Okay wiped and cleaned all drives and all the stuff overnight. COOL. Windows 11 is kinda nice I guess.
Get my radeon drivers for my rx570 and some other ones that seem to have prevented me from bluescreening thus far GREAT.
Downloads Steam, BOOM same ****ing issue and error. 
OK I have looked up and down the internet to fix this error and found no real help
I got restoro, did not help
Redownloaded steam, didn't help  Multiple times
Updated Windows updates NOTHING
Reverted back before radeon driver NOTHING

WHY can't steam run on my computer. what the **** happened that caused steam to say **** you and say no more games for you.

For the love that is Lord Gaben WHY. 

System Specs (not that they matter)
Gigabyte B550 Vision MB
AMD Ryzen 3600
2x8 Corsair 3200 ram
2x16 Corsair 3200 ram 
Red Dragon Rx570 (sooo sorry I have to suffer running a damn 4gb card) (yes I'm salty)

WD Black sn750 500 gb
Samsung evo not sure which ssd but it's 500 gb
4tb WD hdd
500gb toshiba ssd
Corsair H100 Aio

Again, If someone successfully helps me fix this issue I can and will compensate you. I HAVE NO WAY OF GETTING TO ANY REPAIR SHOP. CLOSEST IS MICROCENTER 45 MILES AWAY. 




 

[Oceanlife]

2 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

Hello anyone with more brain cells than I can ever procure.
I have been having the most riping out my hair situation of my life and I've just about had it with my pc and am literally willing to toss the entire thing in the trash
Every single ****ing time I try and run steam I get this STUPID error message Steam.exe - Bad Image
Like OK. I feel like I've tried everything I can do that a basic computer user could do to no avail. 
I'm not some computer wizz kid and to be honest, I NEED someone's help. (hell I'll even pay you if I can just get my damn steam working again.
So, don't talk to me like I understand what dll is or drivers or any of that crap. Treat me like Michael Scott and I'm a toddler. The fact that this is an issue I have to deal with makes me literally wanna kms
OK SO What I do know is, when I had windows 10 I may have updated windows and then steam stropped working with the aforementioned  error we're reading and HOPEFULLY know how to fix? 
I decided, ok, lets just go back. No avail
Ok, let's just bite the bullet and reset EVERYTHING
Okay wiped and cleaned all drives and all the stuff overnight. COOL. Windows 11 is kinda nice I guess.
Get my radeon drivers for my rx570 and some other ones that seem to have prevented me from bluescreening thus far GREAT.
Downloads Steam, BOOM same ****ing issue and error. 
OK I have looked up and down the internet to fix this error and found no real help
I got restoro, did not help
Redownloaded steam, didn't help  Multiple times
Updated Windows updates NOTHING
Reverted back before radeon driver NOTHING

WHY can't steam run on my computer. what the **** happened that caused steam to say **** you and say no more games for you.

For the love that is Lord Gaben WHY. 

System Specs (not that they matter)
Gigabyte B550 Vision MB
AMD Ryzen 3600
2x8 Corsair 3200 ram
2x16 Corsair 3200 ram 
Red Dragon Rx570 (sooo sorry I have to suffer running a damn 4gb card) (yes I'm salty)

WD Black sn750 500 gb
Samsung evo not sure which ssd but it's 500 gb
4tb WD hdd
500gb toshiba ssd
Corsair H100 Aio

Again, If someone successfully helps me fix this issue I can and will compensate you. I HAVE NO WAY OF GETTING TO ANY REPAIR SHOP. CLOSEST IS MICROCENTER 45 MILES AWAY. 

Quick Update, If it wasn't clear this issue happened on windows 10 and 11. 


 

 

[RAS_3885]

Are you re-using your game library after the re-installation of Windows? If so, did you try verifying the integrity of the game files?

 

EDIT: In addition, searching Google for "steam 0xc000012f" yields a ton of different sites with various suggested solutions. Have you tried following some of those guides?

[Bad5ector]

Ok, when you say "download Steam and then BOOM" what do you actually mean?

 

Is this error when installing or running?

 

Like does Steam actually install? Or do you get this error after it installs and you try to launch. Or do you get this error when you run a game?

[Oceanlife]

4 minutes ago, RAS_3885 said:

Are you re-using your game library after the re-installation of Windows? If so, did you try verifying the integrity of the game files?

 

EDIT: In addition, searching Google for "steam 0xc000012f" yields a ton of different sites with various suggested solutions. Have you tried following some of those guides?

No I wiped everything. It's like a whole new pc. Steam, will not even start

[Oceanlife]

4 minutes ago, Bad5ector said:

Ok, when you say "download Steam and then BOOM" what do you actually mean?

 

Is this error when installing or running?

 

Like does Steam actually install? Or do you get this error after it installs and you try to launch. Or do you get this error when you run a game?

Steam gives me the error message again. 

[Oceanlife]

4 minutes ago, Bad5ector said:

Ok, when you say "download Steam and then BOOM" what do you actually mean?

 

Is this error when installing or running?

 

Like does Steam actually install? Or do you get this error after it installs and you try to launch. Or do you get this error when you run a game?

It installs all right but when I try to run it to get into my library and start redownloading my games I get the stupid error

[Oceanlife]

7 minutes ago, RAS_3885 said:

Are you re-using your game library after the re-installation of Windows? If so, did you try verifying the integrity of the game files?

 

EDIT: In addition, searching Google for "steam 0xc000012f" yields a ton of different sites with various suggested solutions. Have you tried following some of those guides?

and yes, I've tried those solutions, Sfc /scannow all those. I got absolutely nothing.

 

[RAS_3885]

7 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

It installs all right but when I try to run it to get into my library and start redownloading my games I get the stupid error

Are you re-installing the games from an existing library, such as on another hard drive? Or is it truly a 100 percent new attempt to download the games?

[Oceanlife]

1 minute ago, RAS_3885 said:

Are you re-installing the games from an existing library, such as on another hard drive? Or is it truly a 100 percent new attempt to download the games?

This is 100% new attempt to even get INTO steam. I have no games on my drives. It's a 100% clean install
can't download my games If I don't have steam installed? (I think?)

 

[Bad5ector]

23 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

2x8 Corsair 3200 ram
2x16 Corsair 3200 ram 

Can you try removing one of these kits? See if the problem comes back? 

 

Also, where do you install steam at? On your C drive or do you install it to your 4TB WD drive? If it is your HDD, then I'd say that might be the cause.

[Oceanlife]

1 minute ago, Bad5ector said:

Can you try removing one of these kits? See if the problem comes back? 

 

Also, where do you install steam at? On your C drive or do you install it to your 4TB WD drive? If it is your HDD, then I'd say that might be the cause.

Ram isn't the issue that makes no sense to me. As for where I installed Steam, I put it on my second m.2 not my hdd

 

[Bad5ector]

2 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

Ram isn't the issue that makes no sense to me.

I'm sorry, I thought you were looking for help and had no idea what you were doing. Glad you are an expert all of a sudden. Go figure it out on your own if you aren't willing to do the bare min troubleshooting.

[Oceanlife]

Just now, Bad5ector said:

I'm sorry, I thought you were looking for help and had no idea what you were doing. Glad you are an expert all of a sudden. Go figure it out on your own if you aren't willing to do the bare min troubleshooting.

didn't say I was an expert. I just cannot see why removing ram would cause steam to not open and cause an error. that just doesn't make any sense to me. 

[Oceanlife]

4 minutes ago, Bad5ector said:

I'm sorry, I thought you were looking for help and had no idea what you were doing. Glad you are an expert all of a sudden. Go figure it out on your own if you aren't willing to do the bare min troubleshooting.

took out the 2x8sticks and got no results. 

[Bad5ector]

4 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

didn't say I was an expert. I just cannot see why removing ram would cause steam to not open and cause an error. that just doesn't make any sense to me.

Right, but it makes sense to me, the guy you are asking for help. I unlike you have experience with this, and it has been my job to troubleshoot shit like this my entire life. And yes RAM can cause fucked up shit like this. Am I saying it is your RAM, no, but if everything you say is true, then we are looking at it being hardware most likely.  Either that or you contracted a virus and didn't properly blow away your partitions when reformatting and installing either Win10 or Win11.

 

EDIT: I'll put it this way, I will never suggest something as a step that I wouldn't do myself during the course of troubleshooting. 

[Bad5ector]

3 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

took out the 2x8sticks and got no results. 

Perf... can you try with the 2x16s just to be sure. 

 

Next can you go to your Windows Event Viewer... Try opening Steam, Check the Application logs in Event Viewer for any errors. Copy and paste to here if you find any.

[Oceanlife]

Just now, Bad5ector said:

Right, but it makes sense to me, the guy you are asking for help. I unlike you have experience with this, and it has been my job to troubleshoot shit like this my entire life. And yes RAM can cause fucked up shit like this. Am I saying it is your RAM, no, but if everything you say is true, then we are looking at it being hardware most likely.  Either that or you contracted a virus and didn't properly blow away your partitions when reformatting and installing either Win10 or Win11.

Look, text cannot covey tone of voice. Didn't intend on sounding like a "smartass". I've been doing NOTHING and I mean (other than using the restroom or food) Been doing nothing but troubleshoot this. As for a virus, I don't think I did.  but IF I somehow did how would I know? Is there a way to find that out. 
Also can you try and explain why ram would cause dumb shit like this to occur?

 

[Oceanlife]

3 minutes ago, Bad5ector said:

Perf... can you try with the 2x16s just to be sure. 

 

Next can you go to your Windows Event Viewer... Try opening Steam, Check the Application logs in Event Viewer for any errors. Copy and paste to here if you find any.

No results with 2 x 16 kits. SO frustrating. I wish It was just my ram then at least I could try and go to my best buy and buy new ram

[RAS_3885]

20 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

Ram isn't the issue that makes no sense to me. As for where I installed Steam, I put it on my second m.2 not my hdd

 

Perhaps you could try installing Steam on the same disk as your operating system, if you haven't already tried that?

[Oceanlife]

Just now, RAS_3885 said:

Perhaps you could try installing Steam on the same disk as your operating system, if you haven't already tried that?

I think I have? But I'll try once more. 

[Bad5ector]

2 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

Look, text cannot covey tone of voice. Didn't intend on sounding like a "smartass".

No worries, just trust me... you aren't the first person to create an account just to ask for help then to continue to argue with every suggestion that is posted. Glad you are not one of them.

 

2 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

Also can you try and explain why ram would cause dumb shit like this to occur?

Sure, I will try to as basic and high level as possible... but RAM is basically just a bunch of addresses where the computer stores data to be quickly accessed to the CPU. Programs are written in a way to access these addresses, store and retrieve data. If there is any corruption at this particular address and the software is written in a way that it NEEDs to be able to access this address.. then you will have a crash. Now normally, these are random things...  but sometimes it can be recreated 100% of the time. So never hurts to just rule out RAM if you have wonky stuff like this. Only reason I suggested was because you have two different kits, and even though they are the same brand, sometimes there can be issues matching... again rare cases.

 

7 minutes ago, Oceanlife said:

As for a virus, I don't think I did.  but IF I somehow did how would I know? Is there a way to find that out.

If you deleted your partitions and started from scratch, you shouldn't have a problem with Virus. If you didn't, you could always try running some online Antivirus scans, if those still exist. TBH, haven't had to deal with those as much since I have been in the Enterprise space for about a decade now. Last time I  was dealing with those end user Virii and Malware was in the Windows XP/Vista/7 days.

 

[Oceanlife]

2 minutes ago, RAS_3885 said:

Perhaps you could try installing Steam on the same disk as your operating system, if you haven't already tried that?

Tried it, Error immediately came up once install finished and tried opening steam

[Bad5ector]

2 minutes ago, RAS_3885 said:

Perhaps you could try installing Steam on the same disk as your operating system, if you haven't already tried that?

Yes, this too... I was leaning towards it being the HDD, but it could also be a faulty SSD as well. Good catch.

[Bad5ector]

Just now, Oceanlife said:

Tried it, Error immediately came up once install finished and tried opening steam

Can you get that Event Viewer screen grab?