[BUG] Cowork "Virtualization is not available" on Windows 11 — ThinkPad E14 G14, Intel i5-1335U, all virtualization 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 permanently shows "Virtualization is not available — Claude's workspace requires Virtual Machine Platform, but the virtualization service isn't responding." Restarting and reinstalling does not fix it. The %APPDATA%\Claude\logs folder is never created, meaning the VM never attempts to initialize.

What Should Happen?

Cowork should detect that virtualization is fully enabled and successfully start the VM workspace.

Error Messages/Logs

"Virtualization is not available — Claude's workspace requires Virtual Machine Platform, but the virtualization service isn't responding. Restart your computer to resolve this."
%APPDATA%\Claude\logs folder does not exist — VM never initializes.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Claude Desktop as Administrator on Windows 11
2. Open Claude Desktop and sign in
3. Navigate to the Cowork tab
4. Error appears immediately
5. Restarting does not resolve it

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Latest version from claude.ai/download (Cowork - desktop app, not Claude Code CLI)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

• VirtualMachinePlatform: Enabled via DISM (successful)
• HypervisorPlatform: Enabled via DISM (successful)
• bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto: ran successfully
• Full clean uninstall + AppData deleted + fresh reinstall as Administrator — same error
• Regular Claude chat works perfectly, only Cowork is affected
• Related issues: #27420, #32004, #45715, #50348