CoworkVMService fails: signature verification initialization failed - MSIX access denied on Windows 11 Pro

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?

Claude Cowork will nnot initialize. ALways has error "Failed to start Claude's workspace
VM service not running. The service failed to start."

What Should Happen?

Claude Cowork should launch the VM

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Clean installation of Claude on WIndows 11 Pro

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

1.1.6452.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

"Warning: failed to open service for recovery config: Access is denied." min Windows Event Log

The service cannot access its own configuration in the registry — it's an MSIX sandboxing permissions problem. The service is running as LocalSystem but Windows is blocking it from reading its own executable path because of how MSIX packages virtualize file system and registry access. This is not something fixable through PowerShell — it requires a fix from Anthropic in how they've packaged the service.

Key errors:

signature verification initialization failed: failed to get service executable path
failed to open service for recovery config: Access is denied