claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] Cowork: "Claude Code process exited with code 1" on Windows 11 Pro after VM successfully boots (MSIX install) [3 comments, 3 participants]

claude-code2026-04-16 21:03:43

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anthropics/claude-code#49529•Fetched 2026-04-17 08:38:33

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Error Message

Stage 1 — Original error (RESOLVED by user): Stage 2 — Current error (NOT RESOLVED):

The original "VM service not running" error should detect missing virtualization prerequisites (VT-x, HVCI conflict) and surface actionable guidance instead of a generic error

Detect active HVCI / Memory Integrity and warn about the conflict with Cowork
On exit code 1, surface the actual error from inside the VM rather than just the generic wrapper message

The original "VM service not running" error should detect missing virtualization prerequisites (VT-x, HVCI conflict) and surface actionable guidance instead of a generic error

Error Messages/Logs

Stage 1 — Original error (RESOLVED by user): Stage 2 — Current error (NOT RESOLVED): Current error (NOT RESOLVED):**

Root Cause

Root cause identified through diagnosis: VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled: False even with Hyper-V enabled in Windows features, because:

Intel VT-x was disabled in BIOS firmware (enabled manually)
HVCI / Memory Integrity was holding exclusive access to VT-x (disabled via Windows Security → Core Isolation)

Fix Action

Fix / Workaround

Two stages of failure. First stage resolved by user workaround; second stage persists.

Stage 1 — Original error (RESOLVED by user): "Impossibile avviare l'area di lavoro di Claude - VM service not running. The service failed to start."

**Stage 1 — Original error (RESOLVED by user):**
"Impossibile avviare l'area di lavoro di Claude - VM service not running. The service failed to start."

Code Example

**Stage 1 — Original error (RESOLVED by user):**
"Impossibile avviare l'area di lavoro di Claude - VM service not running. The service failed to start."

Root cause identified through diagnosis: `VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled: False` even with Hyper-V enabled in Windows features, because:
1. Intel VT-x was disabled in BIOS firmware (enabled manually)
2. HVCI / Memory Integrity was holding exclusive access to VT-x (disabled via Windows Security → Core Isolation)

After enabling VT-x in BIOS + disabling Memory Integrity + reboot:
- `VMMS service: Running` ✅
- `HVCI Enabled: 0` ✅
- VM now successfully boots

**Stage 2 — Current error (NOT RESOLVED):**

Opening Cowork now produces: `Claude Code process exited with code 1`

The VM boots, but the Claude Code process inside the VM crashes immediately with generic exit code 1. This appears to match the pattern reported in issues #37822, #39270, #46029 (Claude Code process spawned by Desktop app crashes instantly with code 1 while the same binary works correctly when invoked directly from terminal).

**Claude Code in standalone terminal works perfectly** — the issue is specific to how Claude Desktop / Cowork spawns the Claude Code process inside its VM.

RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Preflight Checklist

I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Environment:

OS: Windows 11 Pro, Version 10.0.26200, Build 26200, 64-bit
Claude Desktop: 1.3036.0.0 (MSIX package: Claude_1.3036.0.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc)
CPU: Intel Core i9-9980HK
Machine: Dell Precision 7540
Hyper-V: Enabled
WSL: 2.6.3.0 (kernel 6.6.87.2-1)
Docker Desktop: 29.1.3 (installed, using WSL2 backend)
Locale: it-IT

What's wrong:

Two stages of failure. First stage resolved by user workaround; second stage persists.

Stage 1 — Original error (RESOLVED by user): "Impossibile avviare l'area di lavoro di Claude - VM service not running. The service failed to start."

Root cause identified through diagnosis: VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled: False even with Hyper-V enabled in Windows features, because:

Intel VT-x was disabled in BIOS firmware (enabled manually)
HVCI / Memory Integrity was holding exclusive access to VT-x (disabled via Windows Security → Core Isolation)

After enabling VT-x in BIOS + disabling Memory Integrity + reboot:

VMMS service: Running ✅
HVCI Enabled: 0 ✅
VM now successfully boots

Stage 2 — Current error (NOT RESOLVED):

Opening Cowork now produces: Claude Code process exited with code 1

The VM boots, but the Claude Code process inside the VM crashes immediately with generic exit code 1. This appears to match the pattern reported in issues #37822, #39270, #46029 (Claude Code process spawned by Desktop app crashes instantly with code 1 while the same binary works correctly when invoked directly from terminal).

Claude Code in standalone terminal works perfectly — the issue is specific to how Claude Desktop / Cowork spawns the Claude Code process inside its VM.

Expected behavior:

The original "VM service not running" error should detect missing virtualization prerequisites (VT-x, HVCI conflict) and surface actionable guidance instead of a generic error
Cowork should not crash with exit code 1 after successful VM boot

UX suggestion: Add preflight checks at Cowork launch:

Detect VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled: False and tell users to enable VT-x in BIOS
Detect active HVCI / Memory Integrity and warn about the conflict with Cowork
On exit code 1, surface the actual error from inside the VM rather than just the generic wrapper message

Diagnostic data collected:

Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor .VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled: was False (now True after BIOS fix)
Get-Service vmms .Status: was empty (now Running)
Win32_DeviceGuard.VirtualizationBasedSecurityStatus: was 2 (HVCI) (now 2 but services running = 0)
Win32_DeviceGuard.SecurityServicesRunning: was [2] (now [0])

Happy to provide debug logs from Help → Troubleshooting → Share debug logs if useful.

What Should Happen?

Expected behavior:

The original "VM service not running" error should detect missing virtualization prerequisites (VT-x, HVCI conflict) and surface actionable guidance instead of a generic error
Cowork should not crash with exit code 1 after successful VM boot

Error Messages/Logs

**Stage 1 — Original error (RESOLVED by user):**
"Impossibile avviare l'area di lavoro di Claude - VM service not running. The service failed to start."

Root cause identified through diagnosis: `VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled: False` even with Hyper-V enabled in Windows features, because:
1. Intel VT-x was disabled in BIOS firmware (enabled manually)
2. HVCI / Memory Integrity was holding exclusive access to VT-x (disabled via Windows Security → Core Isolation)

After enabling VT-x in BIOS + disabling Memory Integrity + reboot:
- `VMMS service: Running` ✅
- `HVCI Enabled: 0` ✅
- VM now successfully boots

**Stage 2 — Current error (NOT RESOLVED):**

Opening Cowork now produces: `Claude Code process exited with code 1`

The VM boots, but the Claude Code process inside the VM crashes immediately with generic exit code 1. This appears to match the pattern reported in issues #37822, #39270, #46029 (Claude Code process spawned by Desktop app crashes instantly with code 1 while the same binary works correctly when invoked directly from terminal).

**Claude Code in standalone terminal works perfectly** — the issue is specific to how Claude Desktop / Cowork spawns the Claude Code process inside its VM.

Steps to Reproduce

Current error (NOT RESOLVED):**

Opening Cowork now produces: Claude Code process exited with code 1

Claude Code in standalone terminal works perfectly — the issue is specific to how Claude Desktop / Cowork spawns the Claude Code process inside its VM.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

Claude Code v2.1.112

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

No response

extent analysis

TL;DR

The issue is likely due to how Claude Desktop/Cowork spawns the Claude Code process inside its VM, causing it to crash with a generic exit code 1, and can be investigated by checking the VM's environment and the spawning process.

Guidance

Investigate the environment inside the VM to ensure all dependencies and prerequisites for Claude Code are met.
Compare the command or method used by Claude Desktop/Cowork to spawn the Claude Code process with how it's invoked directly from the terminal to identify any differences.
Check for any VM-specific configurations or restrictions that might be causing the Claude Code process to crash.
Consider collecting and analyzing debug logs from the VM or Claude Code process to gain more insight into the crash.

Example

No specific code example can be provided without more details on the spawning process or VM environment, but comparing the terminal invocation command with the one used by Cowork might look something like:

# Terminal invocation
claude-code --some-flag

# Cowork invocation (hypothetical)
cowork spawn claude-code --different-flag

Identifying and aligning these commands might resolve the issue.

Notes

The problem seems to be specific to the interaction between Claude Desktop/Cowork and the VM, rather than a general issue with Claude Code itself, as the code works when run directly from the terminal.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by directly invoking Claude Code from the terminal until the spawning issue is resolved, as this method is known to work correctly.

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claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] Cowork: "Claude Code process exited with code 1" on Windows 11 Pro after VM successfully boots (MSIX install) [3 comments, 3 participants]

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Error Message

Error Messages/Logs

Root Cause

Fix Action

Fix / Workaround

Code Example

Preflight Checklist

What's Wrong?

What Should Happen?

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Claude Model

Is this a regression?

Last Working Version

Claude Code Version

Platform

Operating System

Terminal/Shell

Additional Information

extent analysis

TL;DR

Guidance

Example

Notes

Recommendation

Still need to ship something?

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