[CRITICAL] Cowork completely broken for paying customers. VM service regression from v1.1.3189 still unfixed after 6+ weeks.

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?

I paid for Claude Pro to use this product. It doesn't work.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 11
• Claude Desktop Version: [Find this in Help > About]
• Hyper-V Status: [Enabled / Not Available / Disabled]

The Problem:
Cowork is completely non-functional. Every time I open it, I get: "Failed to start Claude's workspace — VM service not running. The service failed to start."

I've wasted hours on this. Full restart. Complete uninstall. Clean reinstall. It still doesn't work.

What I've Done (All Failed):

• Restarted my entire computer (didn't work)
• Completely uninstalled Claude (didn't work)
• Completely reinstalled Claude from scratch (didn't work)
• Error still persists after every single step

Why This Is Unacceptable:
This bug was introduced in v1.1.3189 on February 13-14, 2026. It's now March 25, 2026. That's over 6 weeks. Dozens of paying customers are reporting the same issue. Your support documentation tells users to restart and reinstall. Both fail. Then you tell users to "share debug logs" as if the user is the problem. The user is not the problem. Your product is.

I'm paying for a service that doesn't work. I have no workaround. I have no clear timeline for a fix. I have no acknowledgment from Anthropic that this is a priority.

The Actual Issue (You Clearly Know This):
This is a known regression related to MCP/Cowork introduced in v1.1.3189. It's documented in issues #27801, #27492, #25663, #25206, #25419, #32186, #33332, #31703, #36801. Dozens of paying customers are stuck with a non-functional product and zero resolution.

I love Claude. But this is embarrassing for a paid product.

What Should Happen?

What Needs To Happen:

• This needs a hotfix. Today. Not next week.
• Paying customers should not be told to troubleshoot infrastructure failures that your team shipped.
• The error message should actually be helpful instead of "restart your computer" (which doesn't work).
• There should be a clear public statement that this is being fixed and when to expect it.
• You need to start offering financial compensation

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Open Claude Desktop application
2. Navigate to Cowork mode/tab
3. Wait for workspace to initialize
4. Observe error banner: "Failed to start Claude's workspace — VM service not running. The service failed to start."
5. Click "Restart" or "Reinstall" buttons (if available)
6. Error persists
7. Restart entire computer
8. Reopen Claude Desktop
9. Navigate to Cowork again
10. Error still appears — issue not resolved by restart
11. Uninstall Claude Desktop completely
12. Reinstall Claude Desktop fresh
13. Open Cowork again
14. Error still persists — issue not resolved by full reinstall

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

1.1.8629.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

_No response_