Windows error 193 (ERROR_BAD_EXE_FORMAT): meaning and diagnosis

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: Windows could not load the image because it is not a valid executable for the attempted operation.

Could be also:
Constant	Type	OS
SPECIAL_POOL_DETECTED_MEMORY_CORRUPTION	BugCheck Code	Windows

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ERROR_EXE_MARKED_INVALID	ERROR_ITERATED_DATA_EXCEEDS_64k

ERROR_BAD_EXE_FORMAT

The executable image format is invalid

ERROR_BAD_EXE_FORMAT often appears when launching or loading a damaged file, a non-executable file, or a binary whose architecture or image format is incompatible with the loader context.

What to check

Verify that the path points to the intended executable or DLL.
Inspect PE headers and confirm x86, x64, or ARM architecture compatibility.
Check whether a script or document was passed to an API that requires a native image.
Re-copy or reinstall the binary if corruption is possible.

How to handle it

Report both the image path and process architecture. Selecting the correct binary is preferable to retrying or suppressing loader validation.

References

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