[BUG] Claude startup registry entry causes Windows 10 Task Manager to crash

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?

Subject: Claude startup registry entry causes Windows 10 Task Manager to crash

Hi Anthropic Support,

I want to report a Windows compatibility issue that appears related to the Claude / Claude Code startup entry.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 10
• Affected app: Windows Task Manager
• Claude / Claude Code was installed recently
• Issue only affected the current Windows user profile

Symptom:
Windows Task Manager worked in compact mode. However, after clicking “More details”, the process list appeared briefly and Task Manager crashed after a few seconds.

Crash details:

• Process: taskmgr.exe
• Exception code: 0xc0000005
• Fault offset: taskmgr.exe+0x5c091

Root cause found:
The current user registry had this startup entry:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Claude = "\"...\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe\" --startup"

This value appears to have malformed quoting. Also, there was no corresponding Claude entry under:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run

The Task Manager crash dump showed that Task Manager was processing the Startup Apps list when the crash occurred. After removing only the Claude startup entry from HKCU\...\Run, Task Manager no longer crashed, including after reboot.

Important:
The Claude executable itself was not removed. Manually launching Claude still works. The issue appears to be related to the startup registry entry format, not Claude running normally.

Please forward this to the Windows/installer team. It may be worth checking how the Claude / Claude Code installer or updater writes the Windows Run startup entry.

Thanks.

What Should Happen?

Subject: Claude startup registry entry causes Windows 10 Task Manager to crash

Hi Anthropic Support,

I want to report a Windows compatibility issue that appears related to the Claude / Claude Code startup entry.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 10
• Affected app: Windows Task Manager
• Claude / Claude Code was installed recently
• Issue only affected the current Windows user profile

Symptom:
Windows Task Manager worked in compact mode. However, after clicking “More details”, the process list appeared briefly and Task Manager crashed after a few seconds.

Crash details:

• Process: taskmgr.exe
• Exception code: 0xc0000005
• Fault offset: taskmgr.exe+0x5c091

Root cause found:
The current user registry had this startup entry:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Claude = "\"...\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe\" --startup"

This value appears to have malformed quoting. Also, there was no corresponding Claude entry under:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run

The Task Manager crash dump showed that Task Manager was processing the Startup Apps list when the crash occurred. After removing only the Claude startup entry from HKCU\...\Run, Task Manager no longer crashed, including after reboot.

Important:
The Claude executable itself was not removed. Manually launching Claude still works. The issue appears to be related to the startup registry entry format, not Claude running normally.

Please forward this to the Windows/installer team. It may be worth checking how the Claude / Claude Code installer or updater writes the Windows Run startup entry.

Thanks.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Subject: Claude startup registry entry causes Windows 10 Task Manager to crash

Hi Anthropic Support,

I want to report a Windows compatibility issue that appears related to the Claude / Claude Code startup entry.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 10
• Affected app: Windows Task Manager
• Claude / Claude Code was installed recently
• Issue only affected the current Windows user profile

Symptom:
Windows Task Manager worked in compact mode. However, after clicking “More details”, the process list appeared briefly and Task Manager crashed after a few seconds.

Crash details:

• Process: taskmgr.exe
• Exception code: 0xc0000005
• Fault offset: taskmgr.exe+0x5c091

Root cause found:
The current user registry had this startup entry:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Claude = "\"...\AnthropicClaude\claude.exe\" --startup"

This value appears to have malformed quoting. Also, there was no corresponding Claude entry under:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run

The Task Manager crash dump showed that Task Manager was processing the Startup Apps list when the crash occurred. After removing only the Claude startup entry from HKCU\...\Run, Task Manager no longer crashed, including after reboot.

Important:
The Claude executable itself was not removed. Manually launching Claude still works. The issue appears to be related to the startup registry entry format, not Claude running normally.

Please forward this to the Windows/installer team. It may be worth checking how the Claude / Claude Code installer or updater writes the Windows Run startup entry.

Thanks.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

latest

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_