[BUG] Claude Desktop install causes Windows 10 Task Manager to crash when switching to More details

Found 1 possible duplicate issue:

1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/44356

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Update: exact trigger identified

I narrowed this down further using ProcMon and A/B testing.

The crash is caused by the exact formatting of the Claude Desktop startup registry value.

Registry path:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Claude

The problematic value created by Claude Desktop was:

"\"C:\Users\wildphs\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe\" --startup"


A normal Run value that does not crash Task Manager is:

"C:\Users\wildphs\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe" --startup


A/B test results

1. Claude Desktop installed with the original extra-quoted Run value:
   "\"C:\Users\wildphs\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe\" --startup"

   Result:
   Task Manager crashes when clicking "More details".

2. Delete only the Run\Claude value:

   Result:
   Task Manager works normally.

3. Recreate Run\Claude manually with normal quoting:
   "C:\Users\wildphs\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe" --startup

   Result:
   Task Manager works normally.

4. Recreate the original extra-quoted value:
   "\"C:\Users\wildphs\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe\" --startup"

   Result:
   Task Manager crashes again.

So the issue is not caused by the Claude process running. It is triggered by the malformed / extra-quoted startup command registered under:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Claude


ProcMon observation

ProcMon showed Taskmgr.exe reading this value shortly before the crash:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Claude


Shortly after that, WerFault.exe was launched and Taskmgr.exe threads began exiting.

The BUFFER OVERFLOW result shown by ProcMon on the registry query is likely the normal Windows registry query pattern where the caller first receives the required buffer size and then retries successfully. I do not believe BUFFER OVERFLOW itself is the bug.

The important observation is that Task Manager reads the malformed Claude startup value immediately before Windows Error Reporting starts handling the Task Manager crash.

The later Thread Exit events appear to be a consequence of the crash, not the cause.

Exit status

ProcMon also showed Taskmgr.exe exiting with:

Exit Status: -1073741819

This corresponds to:

0xC0000005

which matches the Event Viewer access violation crash code.

Workaround

Recreate the startup entry with normal quoting:

Set-ItemProperty `
  -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run' `
  -Name 'Claude' `
  -Type String `
  -Value '"C:\Users\<your-user>\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe" --startup'

Or remove the startup entry entirely:

Remove-ItemProperty `
  -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run' `
  -Name 'Claude'

This keeps Claude Desktop installed. It only fixes/removes the startup registry entry.

Updated conclusion

The issue appears to be caused by the malformed / extra-quoted Claude Desktop startup registry value, not by the Claude Desktop process itself.

On my Windows 10 build, Windows Task Manager appears to crash while parsing or displaying this startup entry during detailed view / Startup tab initialization.

I had the same experience. Working the issue resulted in a wrong registry entry for Claude desktop app.

Here is how the entry was exported before the fix:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"Claude"="\"\\\"C:\\Users\\XX\\AppData\\Local\\AnthropicClaude\\claude.exe\\\" --startup\""

That caused the TaskManager and the Startup apps page in the system settings to crash after a few seconds due to excessive escaping in the registry.

Corrected entry:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"Claude"="\"C:\\Users\\XX\\AppData\\Local\\AnthropicClaude\\claude.exe\" --startup"

same question

Environment
OS: Windows 10 22H2
Build: 19045.4291
Task Manager: Taskmgr.exe version 10.0.19041.4123
Claude executable path: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe

Symptoms
Open Task Manager.
Click “More details”.
Task Manager immediately crashes.

Windows Error Reporting showed:
APPCRASH
Application: Taskmgr.exe
Exception code: c0000005
Fault offset: 000000000005c371

Using the generated Task Manager crash dump and Microsoft symbols, the crash resolved to:
Taskmgr.exe+0x5c371 => TmGetDetailsFromCrudeCmdLine+0x56d
The stack also included startup-item enumeration functions such as:
WdcStartupMonitor::LoadRegistryList
WdcStartupMonitor::_LoadStartupItems

Cause
The Claude startup registry command appears to contain literal backslash-escaped quotes:
\"C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe\" --startup

This is valid-looking in JSON/string contexts, but not as a Windows registry Run command. Task Manager’s startup command parser appears to mishandle this malformed command and crashes.

Claude should write a valid Windows startup command, for example:
"C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe" --startup

Manually fix the registry value:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Claude = "C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe" --startup
or remove/disable the Claude startup entry.

same here omg so scary bro i thought i caught hiv in my computer please fix it

I have the same problem:

I note that this is marked as invalid. That does not seem to be the case. Or is this in the wrong place? Either way, this looks like a Claude bug to me. please help me get it to the right place.

What happened for me:
When Claude Desktop is installed Task Manager closes when it is clicked on (change tab, more/less details)

I did all the sfc and dism troubleshooting steps, rebooted and still the same problem.
When I uninstalled Claude Desktop and rebooted, task manager was fine.
I then opened Task Manager while reinstalling Claude Setup.exe (v1.6608.2.0) downloaded on the 12th May 2026

During the install Task Manager changed from full details to less details. It then closed when I clicked on it.

If I close the Claude app in the task area then Task Manager still has the same problems. Only removing Claude Desktop fixed the problem.

A repeatable bug.

I am on the latest updated version of Win10

Here's some info from Event Viewer:

Fault bucket 1824744983326319240, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: Taskmgr.exe
P2: 10.0.19041.6280
P3: 805ae783
P4: Taskmgr.exe
P5: 10.0.19041.6280
P6: 805ae783
P7: c0000005
P8: 00000000000748a1
P9:
P10:

Attached files:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER4CF3.tmp.dmp
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER4EC8.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER4F85.tmp.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER4F83.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER4FE2.tmp.txt

These files may be available here:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_Taskmgr.exe_df84be78de51aa5f6ed6247b4d4c723cdab35313_bc0581c7_79db8ba8-0fb4-4121-af16-9918289a62e4

Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 66eb4504-fb29-4156-9783-a21fafb3b0d3
Report Status: 268435456
Hashed bucket: 3d43eefe2874fcc1a952cbe4f8d76288
Cab Guid: 0

The event viewer Error:

Faulting application name: Taskmgr.exe, version: 10.0.19041.6280, time stamp: 0x805ae783
Faulting module name: Taskmgr.exe, version: 10.0.19041.6280, time stamp: 0x805ae783
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000000748a1
Faulting process ID: 0x4274
Faulting application start time: 0x01dce289f71bfeac
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\System32\Taskmgr.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\System32\Taskmgr.exe
Report ID: 930f7f36-cd63-44a9-b5f4-8374518980a2
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Can confirm the The A/B test result solution (above) works.

In regedit:

Update the value in
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Claude

to be:
"C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe" --startup

Thank you aekiori.

Be nice if the install could be fixed. It wasted a good few hours flailing around to find the solution.

Most people probably don't care, but it also breaks launch on startup for Claude Desktop.

Most people probably don't care, but it also breaks launch on startup for Claude Desktop.

That’s definitely true if the entry is removed entirely. In earlier cases, correcting the Claude startup value fixed the Task Manager crash, but I haven’t personally re-tested whether startup still works correctly afterward.

This issue also prevents the Settings -> Startup Apps page from working in Windows 11.
(Also reported, and closed, in: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/44356 and https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/56369 )

I can confirm removing the extra quotes in the registry entry fixed the issue for me as well.

Imagine being worth billions and yet are unable to remove a single byte to fix a problem so many people have, even with unlimited access to AI, Anthropic is becoming the next Microsoft and it's worrying. Thank you to the folks who put the time and effort into actually debugging and finding a fix for this, it's ridiculous this even happened in the first place!

<img width="373" height="610" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c6ddd8d0-7928-4efb-8491-c34024ac688d" />

Imagine being worth billions and yet are unable to remove a single byte to fix a problem so many people have, even with unlimited access to AI, Anthropic is becoming the next Microsoft and it's worrying. Thank you to the folks who put the time and effort into actually debugging and finding a fix for this, it's ridiculous this even happened in the first place! <img alt="Image" width="373" height="610" src="https://private-user-images.githubusercontent.com/6290310/597293540-c6ddd8d0-7928-4efb-8491-c34024ac688d.png?jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.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.LQ66qg-odWhEVZEqEaxIClyBeootunmoBhkErBVSZqw">

I completely agree. I also sent Anthropic Support the root cause and workaround I documented on GitHub, but their AI support bot just kept giving vague, useless answers.

And at some point, it basically started ghosting me. Imagine having a clearly diagnosed installer bug with a reproducible fix, and the support bot still acts like you're asking about the weather.

Are our voices really unable to reach them?

still not fixed

Still not fixed. Windows 10 Task Manager crashed on 'More details' even after uninstalling Claude desktop. The registry fix worked:
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "Claude" /f

The uninstaller is not cleaning up this registry entry.