[BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 11 Education — VM never initializes, no logs created

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?

What's Wrong?
Cowork tab shows "Virtualization is not available" error. VM never initializes.
No logs folder exists at %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\

System Info

• OS: Windows 11 Education
• Claude Desktop: [check your version in the app]
• Subscription: [Pro/Team/etc]

Verification Steps Completed
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| VirtualMachinePlatform | ✅ Enabled |
| HypervisorPlatform | ✅ Enabled |
| Microsoft-Hyper-V-All | ✅ Enabled |
| CoworkVMService | ✅ Running |
| %APPDATA%\Claude\logs folder | ❌ Does not exist |

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Desktop on Windows 11 Education
2. Navigate to Cowork tab
3. Error appears immediately, VM never starts
4. Note: No log files exist to attach — %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\ directory does not exist,

confirming the VM never attempts to initialize.

Related Issues
#36365, #27316, #29887, #32004

What Should Happen?

Cowork should detect that all virtualization features are enabled and successfully
initialize the VM workspace, creating logs and allowing access to the Cowork tab.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Claude Desktop on Windows 11 Education
2. Enable all virtualization features (VirtualMachinePlatform, HypervisorPlatform, Hyper-V)
3. Confirm CoworkVMService is Running
4. Open Claude Desktop
5. Navigate to Cowork tab
6. Error "Virtualization is not available" appears immediately
7. %APPDATA%\Claude\logs directory does not exist — VM never initializes

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Desktop v1.2278.0 (e5213f) — not Claude Code CLI

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

_No response_