[BUG] Cowork crashes with exit code 1 on Windows 10 Pro - Claude Desktop 1.18286.0.0

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?

Related to stale issues #37887 and #39270, but adding Windows/Cowork specific case with full troubleshooting details and Reference ID.

Cowork crashes immediately on every task execution with "Claude Code process exited with code 1," despite all system prerequisites being met and the VM successfully booting and connecting to the network.

What Should Happen?

Expected: Task executes and completes successfully
Actual: Claude Code process exits with code 1 before any task output is generated

Error Messages/Logs

Logs show:
error_message: 'Claude Code process exited with code 1'
had_first_response: false (crashes before first response)
seconds_to_outcome: 1 (crashes within 1 second)

Steps to Reproduce

Reproduction steps:

Open Claude Desktop v1.18286.0.0
Click the Cowork tab
Enter any task (e.g., "Create a text file called test.txt on my desktop")
Click execute/submit
Yellow error message appears: "Claude Code crashed - Try sending your message again"

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

Never workd

Claude Code Version

Claude Desktop version: 1.18286.0.0

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

What fails:

Cowork crashes immediately with "Claude Code crashed" on any task
Error: Claude Code process exited with code 1
Log shows: had_first_response: false (crashes before executing task)
Occurs within 1 second of task submission

Troubleshooting completed:

✓ Hyper-V enabled
✓ Developer Mode enabled
✓ NAT rule configured
✓ Git for Windows installed
✓ RAM adequate (20GB)
✓ All prerequisites met