[BUG] Cowork "Virtual Machine Platform not available" — 0x800F081F prevents VMP installation on Windows 11 build 26100

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?

System: Windows 11, build 10.0.26100.4202
Claude Desktop version: latest

Problem:
Cowork shows "Virtual Machine Platform not available" error.
When attempting to enable VirtualMachinePlatform via DISM or PowerShell,
Windows returns error 0x800F081F (source files not found) and the feature cannot be installed.

Steps taken:

• Ran dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all as admin → 0x800F081F
• Ran Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -All → same error
• Ran sfc /scannow → no integrity violations found
• Virtualization confirmed ENABLED in BIOS (Task Manager → CPU → Virtualization: Enabled)

Expected: Cowork initializes the VM workspace normally
Actual: Persistent "Virtual Machine Platform not available" error — VM never starts

Related issues: #32004, #45715, #57717

What Should Happen?

System: Windows 11, build 10.0.26100.4202
Claude Desktop version: latest

Problem:
Cowork shows "Virtual Machine Platform not available" error.
When attempting to enable VirtualMachinePlatform via DISM or PowerShell,
Windows returns error 0x800F081F (source files not found) and the feature cannot be installed.

Steps taken:

• Ran dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all as admin → 0x800F081F
• Ran Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -All → same error
• Ran sfc /scannow → no integrity violations found
• Virtualization confirmed ENABLED in BIOS (Task Manager → CPU → Virtualization: Enabled)

Expected: Cowork initializes the VM workspace normally
Actual: Persistent "Virtual Machine Platform not available" error — VM never starts

Related issues: #32004, #45715, #57717

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

System: Windows 11, build 10.0.26100.4202
Claude Desktop version: latest

Problem:
Cowork shows "Virtual Machine Platform not available" error.
When attempting to enable VirtualMachinePlatform via DISM or PowerShell,
Windows returns error 0x800F081F (source files not found) and the feature cannot be installed.

Steps taken:

• Ran dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all as admin → 0x800F081F
• Ran Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -All → same error
• Ran sfc /scannow → no integrity violations found
• Virtualization confirmed ENABLED in BIOS (Task Manager → CPU → Virtualization: Enabled)

Expected: Cowork initializes the VM workspace normally
Actual: Persistent "Virtual Machine Platform not available" error — VM never starts

Related issues: #32004, #45715, #57717

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.8555.2 (a476c3) 2026-05-22T23:04:37.000Z

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_