[BUG] Claude Desktop 1.1617.0.0 fails to launch on Windows 11 — app crashes immediately, no window renders

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?

Environment

Claude Desktop version: 1.1617.0.0
Windows 11
Claude.ai web interface works normally

What happens
Claude Desktop fails to launch immediately after a recent auto-update. The error dialog says: "Claude Desktop failed to launch. Please check for updates and try again." No window renders at all.
Troubleshooting already attempted

Uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times via PowerShell (Remove-AppxPackage)
Removed all related folders manually
Ran Claude Desktop as administrator — same result
Checked Event Viewer (Application log) — no Claude-related entries found at all, suggesting the app crashes before Windows can log anything

Log findings
C:\ProgramData\Claude\Logs\cowork-service.log shows CoworkVMService starts successfully every time:

HCS DLLs load fine
Signature verification passes
Named pipe server starts and listens on \\.\pipe\cowork-vm-service
Service then receives stop request shortly after — the app never connects

No main.log is created in the app data folders, confirming the Electron process crashes before writing any logs.
Summary
CoworkVMService starts fine but the main app process crashes immediately and never connects to the service. This started after an auto-update and persists through clean reinstalls.

What Should Happen?

Claude Desktop should launch normally and display the main window.

Error Messages/Logs

2026/04/10 10:05:01.365840 [Server]   Service: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_1.1617.0.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc\app\resources\cowork-svc.exe
2026/04/10 10:05:01.365840 [Server]   Subject: Anthropic, PBC
2026/04/10 10:05:01.365840 [Server]   Thumbprint: dbde5d16768ed0c1...
2026/04/10 10:05:01.365840 [Server]   Enforce: true
2026/04/10 10:05:01.365840 [Server] Starting named pipe server on \\.\pipe\cowork-vm-service
2026/04/10 10:05:01.366988 [Server] Named pipe server listening
2026/04/10 10:05:01.366988 Service ready. Listening on \\.\pipe\cowork-vm-service
2026/04/10 10:16:47.165003 Service stop requested
2026/04/10 10:16:47.165003 Shutdown signal received...
2026/04/10 10:16:47.165003 [Server] Stopping server...
2026/04/10 10:16:47.165508 [Server] Server stopped
2026/04/10 10:16:47.165508 Service stopped.
2026/04/10 10:17:52.259156 Starting CoworkVMService as Windows service
2026/04/10 10:17:52.268889 Claude VM Service starting...
2026/04/10 10:17:52.268889 Waiting for configuration from app via 'configure' method...
2026/04/10 10:17:52.268889 [HCS] Initializing HCS DLLs...
2026/04/10 10:17:52.270049 Warning: failed to open service for recovery config: Access is denied.
2026/04/10 10:17:52.271744 [HCS] vmcompute.dll loaded successfully
2026/04/10 10:17:52.273000 [HCS] computecore.dll loaded successfully
2026/04/10 10:17:52.273000 [HCS] Procs initialized, HCS ready
2026/04/10 10:17:52.273000 [HCN] Initialized HCN API from computenetwork.dll
2026/04/10 10:17:52.275438 [HCN] EnumerateNetworks result: []
2026/04/10 10:17:52.541267 [Server] Signature verification initialized
2026/04/10 10:17:52.541267 [Server]   Service: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_1.1617.0.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc\app\resources\cowork-svc.exe
2026/04/10 10:17:52.541267 [Server]   Subject: Anthropic, PBC
2026/04/10 10:17:52.541267 [Server]   Thumbprint: dbde5d16768ed0c1...
2026/04/10 10:17:52.541267 [Server]   Enforce: true
2026/04/10 10:17:52.541267 [Server] Starting named pipe server on \\.\pipe\cowork-vm-service
2026/04/10 10:17:52.541772 [Server] Named pipe server listening
2026/04/10 10:17:52.541772 Service ready. Listening on \\.\pipe\cowork-vm-service

Steps to Reproduce

1. Launch Claude Desktop from Start menu
2. Error dialog appears immediately: "Claude Desktop failed to launch. Please check for updates and try again."
3. No window renders at all

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

N/A - This is a Claude Desktop issue, not Claude Code

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

<img width="2282" height="452" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/302a335e-eee7-4486-b039-be843d1636b9" />
<img width="1704" height="314" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/57098d27-2598-4e59-b5b1-055e71a08f3f" />
<img width="2309" height="416" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9d3a1492-b457-4d50-be73-2e24405b50c5" />
<img width="2048" height="1485" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/944d7fb5-09b7-489f-a59f-e1a63e71a320" />
<img width="2826" height="679" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8196899b-dab7-4c18-b4c9-a60e152bc005" />
<img width="2322" height="270" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b1974f99-a111-4ec1-923b-74b5362bbd65" />
<img width="1519" height="1035" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b2f27470-8478-45b0-a590-92859d8e9202" />
<img width="1532" height="733" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/19e9ebc1-aaf8-4fe6-b5c1-4916cf566be6" />
<img width="1555" height="528" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5310ff59-0919-4663-bc3c-2a5de8f844ff" />
<img width="1534" height="741" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e9983462-9829-4216-bfbf-8a58cd549fa6" />
<img width="1543" height="875" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/65dbdeaf-e7af-4bd5-9d4d-96b230d779ad" />
<img width="1536" height="914" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6ad03b8b-9a08-4ac4-b534-f972d59426d3" />