[BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 10 Pro — VM never initializes despite all features enabled

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?

Cowork tab shows "Virtualization is not available — Claude's workspace requires Virtual Machine Platform, but the virtualization service isn't responding. Restart your computer to resolve this."

Restarting does not resolve it. The %APPDATA%\Claude folder is never created — the VM never attempts to initialize.

System verification confirms no configuration issue:

| Check | Result |
|-------|--------|
| OS | Windows 10 Pro |
| CoworkVMService | ✅ Running |
| HypervisorPlatform | ✅ Enabled |
| VirtualMachinePlatform | ✅ Enabled |
| Microsoft-Hyper-V | ✅ Enabled |
| Microsoft-Hyper-V-All | ✅ Enabled |
| Microsoft-Hyper-V-Tools-All | ✅ Enabled |
| Microsoft-Hyper-V-Management-PowerShell | ✅ Enabled |
| Microsoft-Hyper-V-Hypervisor | ✅ Enabled |
| Microsoft-Hyper-V-Services | ✅ Enabled |
| Microsoft-Hyper-V-Management-Clients | ✅ Enabled |
| bcdedit hypervisorlaunchtype | auto |
| %APPDATA%\Claude folder | ❌ Does not exist |

The VM never attempts to initialize. No logs are generated.

What Should Happen?

Cowork should detect that all virtualization features are enabled and successfully start the VM workspace.

Error Messages/Logs

No logs exist — %APPDATA%\Claude folder is never created.

PowerShell verification:
- Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Claude" returns False
- Get-Service CoworkVMService shows Status: Running

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Claude Desktop on Windows 10 Pro
2. Enable all Hyper-V features via Windows Features
3. Verify CoworkVMService is running
4. Open Claude Desktop → Cowork tab
5. Observe "Virtualization is not available" error
6. Check %APPDATA%\Claude — folder does not exist

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

latest

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Related issues with identical root cause: #27316, #29887, #32004, #32233, #36365, #37265

Full clean reinstall attempted (uninstall, delete AppData folders, reinstall as Administrator) — same result.