[BUG] VM service not running. The service failed to start. — Windows 11 Home + multiple installation issues

Preflight Checklist

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

What's Wrong?

First and foremost, this is not the only issue related to the “VM service not running” here, but I didn’t see this issue mentioned within Windows 11 Home edition specifically, combined with many installation issues I had afterward.

Second, I need to mention I’m a new Claude user and today I wanted to pay for Claude and use Claude Desktop, Cowork, and Code, but… I spent more than 5–6 hours fixing, tinkering, and so on. I didn’t give up on Claude, I heard great things about it and Anthropic, but I’m honestly exhausted.

So, let’s begin.

I installed Claude without any issues afair, I was clicking here and there before swiping my debit card, when I noticed that plugins marketplace loads for quite some time and then gives this error:

Failed to load marketplaces
Error invoking remote method '$eipc_message$_8da60cf1-ffca-4300-be84-6af2f603bd1c_$_claude.web_$_CustomPlugins_$_listMarketplaces': Error: VM service not running. The service failed to start.
Restarting Claude or your computer sometimes resolves this. If it persists, you can reinstall the workspace or share your debug logs to help us improve.

I’m on Windows 11 Home and maybe this is related, however I talked to Claude on web and did many thing — enabled Hyper-V and all that stuff, and it still shows this error.

While I was doing it, I “nuked” my Claude installation and spent about 4 hours fixing it. It was truly a bizarre experience.

Gladly, Gemini helped me fix the issue and now… well, not sure what to do. I still want to give Claude Desktop + Code a go, but I’m feared it won’t just work.

Here are the summaries of Gemini and Claude chats listing what happened to me and how I tried to solve them:

1. claude-install-issue-summary.md — this lists everything what went wrong.
2. gemini-installation-fix.md — the installation fix and back to the roots.

Also, here’s the path where current Claude “lives” → C:\Users\Georgy\AppData\Local\Packages\Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc.

BTW, I noticed a MASSIVE folder there, I assume Claude managed to install VM successfully? Why is it not working then?

<img width="1821" height="544" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/11bff145-d8f1-433f-ae77-da212cb4a29a" />

What Should Happen?

Claude should be working properly, VM should “spin up” and work as intended, and I shouldn’t see such an error in plugins marketplace. Also, the installation shouldn’t be “borked” as it happened on my side, be it if I use VPN or not — I’m still not sure if VPNs were at fault at all.

Error Messages/Logs

Failed to load marketplaces
Error invoking remote method '$eipc_message$_8da60cf1-ffca-4300-be84-6af2f603bd1c_$_claude.web_$_CustomPlugins_$_listMarketplaces': Error: VM service not running. The service failed to start.
Restarting Claude or your computer sometimes resolves this. If it persists, you can reinstall the workspace or share your debug logs to help us improve.

Steps to Reproduce

All explained in Claude and Gemini’s summaries.

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

latest (literally downloaded 5–7 hours before)

Platform

Anthropic API / Claude free tier

Operating System

Windows 11 Home

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

This whole thread is about Claude Desktop app, but I didn’t find a place where I could ask these questions, moreover, afaik, Claude Cowork is related to Claude Code, so here I am :(