Windows installer falsely detects concurrent installation, --force flag ignored

Description

Running irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex on Windows fails with:

× Installation failed
Could not install - another process is currently installing Claude. Please try again in a moment.
Try running with --force to override checks
✅ Installation complete\!

The --force flag does not resolve the issue.

Steps to reproduce

1. Run irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
2. Installation fails with the above error
3. Download exe manually and run claude.exe install --force
4. Same error occurs

Environment

• OS: Windows 11
• Claude Code version: 2.1.1

Investigation

• No Claude processes running
• Renamed .claude folder to start fresh — same error
• No lock files found in TEMP, LOCALAPPDATA, or USERPROFILE\.claude
• --force flag is accepted but does not bypass the check

Workaround

# 1. Create directory
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin" | Out-Null

# 2a. Symlink (requires admin or Developer Mode, but survives updates)
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe" -Target "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Claude Code\claude.exe"

# 2b. Or copy (no admin required, but needs to be repeated after updates)
Copy-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Claude Code\claude.exe" "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe"

Why: Claude Code with installMethod: native looks for the exe specifically at %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin\claude.exe, not just anywhere in PATH.

Solution suggested by Claude Code 🤖