Claude Cowork Fix for Windows (Interactive Edition)

A surgical, interactive CLI tool to resolve the "VM service not running" and "Plan9 mount" errors in the Claude Desktop app for Windows.

The Problem

Claude Cowork runs inside a lightweight Linux container (WSL2). On Windows, this container is highly sensitive to:

1. Network Conflicts: Tools like Tailscale, ZeroTier, or VPNs can block the virtual network creation.
2. Resource Locking: Apps like Ollama or Docker can "lock" the WSL environment, preventing Claude from booting.
3. Ghost Services: The CoworkVMService often gets stuck in a "Starting" or "Stopping" loop.

How This Script Fixes It

Unlike a "nuclear option" that kills everything, this script is interactive and surgical:

1. Auto-Elevation: Automatically requests Admin privileges to manage Windows Services.
2. Conflict Detection: Scans your active processes for a "hit list" of known offenders (Tailscale, Ollama, Docker, etc.).
3. User Consent: For every app found, it asks: Do you want to stop this app?
4. Surgical Strike: It resets the Claude services and WSL environment only after you give the green light.
5. Feedback Loop: After each attempt, it asks: Did that fix it? If yes, the script exits immediately without touching any other apps.

Usage

1. Download Fix-Claude-Cowork.bat to your machine.
2. Double-click the file (or run it from PowerShell).
3. Follow the on-screen prompts to selectively stop conflicting apps.
4. Once Claude is running, you can safely restart your other tools!

Known "Conflict" Apps Detected

• VPNs/Mesh: Tailscale, ZeroTier, OpenVPN, WireGuard
• Local AI/Containers: Ollama, LM Studio, Docker Desktop
• Remote Access: Rainway, Parsec

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Created by Jake Steinerman