Back Original

Claude Desktop spawns 1.8 GB Hyper-V VM on every launch, even for chat-only use

Preflight Checklist

  • I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
  • This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
  • I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

[BUG] Claude Desktop spawns 1.8 GB Hyper-V VM on every launch, even for chat-only use

Note: This issue is specific to the Claude Desktop app (Windows), not Claude Code CLI.

OS: Windows 11 Pro 25H2, Build 26200.7840

Summary

Install Claude Desktop on Windows 11 with VirtualMachinePlatform enabled

What Happens

WSL is not installed — wsl --shutdown returns "not installed"

The vmcompute service is set to Manual start but is triggered at boot by an RPC interface event (GUID: bc90d167-9470-4139-a9ba-be0bbbf5b74d). The parent process is services.exe (PID 1400), confirming it's a service trigger, not a user-initiated launch.

The Claude Desktop app should not spawn a VM for chat-only sessions

Current Workaround

VM/container infrastructure only initializes when Cowork or agent mode is actively requested

What Should Happen?

The Claude Desktop app should not spawn a Hyper-V VM (Vmmem, ~1.8 GB RAM) when launching for chat-only use. VM/container infrastructure should only initialize when the user actively starts a Cowork or agent session. Stale session files should be cleaned up automatically after sessions end.

Error Messages/Logs

Hyper-V Compute Admin log shows repeated errors on every boot:
"The specified property query is invalid: The virtual machine or container JSON document is invalid. (0xC037010D, 'Invalid JSON document '$'')"

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Install Claude Desktop on Windows 11 with VirtualMachinePlatform enabled
  2. Use Cowork at least once
  3. Close and reopen Claude Desktop (or reboot)
  4. Observe Vmmem in Task Manager consuming ~1,800 MB at 0% CPU

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

Claude Desktop (Windows) latest as of 2/26/2026

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

See detailed bug report in description above.

Image