[Python] Tried to update conda, now I've ruined my base env

I am using windows 11, Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 5215 CPU.

I tried to update fiona in my python 3.12 environment and was told to update conda, but following the conda instructions just resulted in the same prompt to update conda, with the same instructions:

(p312) C:\Users\wesk>conda update fiona
Channels:
- conda-forge
Platform: win-64
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done


==> WARNING: A newer version of conda exists. <==
current version: 24.11.3
latest version: 25.3.1

Please update conda by running

$ conda update -n base -c conda-forge conda



# All requested packages already installed.


(p312) C:\Users\wesk>conda update -n base -c conda-forge conda
Channels:
- conda-forge
Platform: win-64
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done


==> WARNING: A newer version of conda exists. <==
current version: 24.11.3
latest version: 25.3.1

Please update conda by running

$ conda update -n base -c conda-forge conda



# All requested packages already installed.


I found a suggestion on stackoverflow to do conda update python which seems to have ruined everything! Not recommended:

(base) C:\Users\wesk>conda update python
Channels:
- conda-forge
Platform: win-64
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done


==> WARNING: A newer version of conda exists. <==
current version: 24.11.3
latest version: 25.3.1

Please update conda by running

$ conda update -n base -c conda-forge conda



## Package Plan ##

environment location: C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3

added / updated specs:
- python


The following packages will be downloaded:

package | build
---------------------------|-----------------
liblzma-5.8.1 | h2466b09_0 102 KB conda-forge
libsqlite-3.49.1 | h67fdade_2 1.0 MB conda-forge
python-3.12.9 |h3f84c4b_1_cpython 15.2 MB conda-forge
------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 16.3 MB

The following packages will be UPDATED:

liblzma 5.6.3-h2466b09_1 --> 5.8.1-h2466b09_0
libsqlite 3.48.0-h67fdade_0 --> 3.49.1-h67fdade_2
python 3.12.8-h3f84c4b_1_cpython --> 3.12.9-h3f84c4b_1_cpython


Proceed ([y]/n)? y


Downloading and Extracting Packages:

Preparing transaction: done
Verifying transaction: done
Executing transaction: done
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\exception_handler.py", line 18, in __call__
return func(*args, **kwargs)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\cli\main.py", line 73, in main_sourced
from ..base.context import context
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\base\context.py", line 32, in <module>
from ..common._os.linux import linux_get_libc_version
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\common\_os\__init__.py", line 8, in <module>
from .windows import get_free_space_on_windows as get_free_space
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\common\_os\windows.py", line 11, in <module>
from ctypes import (
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\ctypes\__init__.py", line 8, in <module>
from _ctypes import Union, Structure, Array
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing _ctypes: The specified procedure could not be found.

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Scripts\conda-script.py", line 12, in <module>
sys.exit(main())
^^^^^^
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\cli\main.py", line 105, in main
return conda_exception_handler(main, *args, **kwargs)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\exception_handler.py", line 386, in conda_exception_handler
return_value = exception_handler(func, *args, **kwargs)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\exception_handler.py", line 21, in __call__
return self.handle_exception(exc_val, exc_tb)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\exception_handler.py", line 52, in handle_exception
from .exceptions import (
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\exceptions.py", line 31, in <module>
from .models.channel import Channel
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\models\channel.py", line 26, in <module>
from ..base.context import context
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\base\context.py", line 32, in <module>
from ..common._os.linux import linux_get_libc_version
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\common\_os\__init__.py", line 8, in <module>
from .windows import get_free_space_on_windows as get_free_space
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\site-packages\conda\common\_os\windows.py", line 11, in <module>
from ctypes import (
File "C:\Users\wesk\AppData\Local\miniforge3\Lib\ctypes\__init__.py", line 8, in <module>
from _ctypes import Union, Structure, Array
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing _ctypes: The specified procedure could not be found.


Now I can't seem to do anything: can't activate other environments, can't do conda list, etc. Where to I go from here, now that I have apparently screwed up everything?

Cheers

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