[BUG] signature verification initialization failed: failed to get service executable path

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 workspace fails to start. had a long troubleshooting session with claude chat, and ended up nowhere.

detailed bug report as below.

What Should Happen?

Subject: Cowork 'VM service not running' — persists after full reinstall on Windows 11 Pro

Hi Anthropic Support,

I'm a Max plan subscriber and Claude Cowork has been completely non-functional on my Windows 11 Pro machine since I installed it. I've spent an extensive troubleshooting session today and identified what appear to be two distinct bugs. I'm writing to report them and ask for assistance.

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ERROR MESSAGE
Cowork displays: "Failed to start Claude's workspace — VM service not running. The service failed to start."

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ENVIRONMENT

• OS: Windows 11 Pro (22H2)
• Claude version: 1.1.7714.0
• Installer: Direct download from claude.ai/download (non-Store)
• Hyper-V: Enabled
• VPN/Docker: None
• Subscription: Max plan

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ROOT CAUSE #1 — Cross-device rename failure (EXDEV)
My Windows TEMP folder is configured to F:\ (a secondary drive) to preserve space on my C: drive. Claude downloads the VM bundle (~4–9 GB) to TEMP and then attempts an atomic rename to the destination on C:. This fails with:

EXDEV: cross-device link not permitted,
rename 'F:\Temp\wvm-z6SFr6\rootfs.vhdx'
-> 'C:\Users\scons\AppData\Roaming\Claude\vm_bundles\claudevm.bundle\rootfs.vhdx'

The download succeeds and the checksum validates, but the rename fails. Claude then retries, re-downloading the full file each time, eventually filling up my F: drive (~10 GB consumed across multiple failed attempts). A copy+delete approach instead of atomic rename would fix this.

ROOT CAUSE #2 — CoworkVMService signature verification failure
Even after manually placing all VM files correctly and performing a full uninstall + clean reinstall, the Windows service fails with this error in the Application Event Log:

Service error: signature verification initialization failed:
failed to get service executable path: The system cannot find the path specified.

The executable exists at the registered path. This appears to be a bug with how the direct (non-Store) installer registers the service on Windows 11 Pro.

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TROUBLESHOOTING ALREADY ATTEMPTED

• Restarted Claude and computer multiple times
• Clicked "Reinstall Workspace" multiple times (this destructively deletes bundle files before confirming a successful re-download)
• Manually placed all VM bundle files (rootfs.vhdx 9.2 GB, vmlinuz, initrd, all .origin files) — log confirmed "All files ready" but service still failed
• Attempted Start-Service CoworkVMService as Administrator — failed
• Deleted CoworkVMService registry key and rebooted — service not recreated
• Re-registered MSIX package via Add-AppxPackage — no improvement
• Full uninstall via Revo Uninstaller + system cleanup + reboot + fresh install — same signature error

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I have also filed a detailed bug report on GitHub at github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues with full diagnostic data, logs, and suggested fixes.

Could you please advise whether there is a known workaround for the signature verification failure on Windows 11 Pro with the direct installer? And is there any way to configure the VM bundle storage location to avoid the EXDEV issue for users with TEMP on a separate drive?

Thank you,
Savvas

Error Messages/Logs

see previous report

Steps to Reproduce

see previous report

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

1.1.7714

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

see previous bug report