microsoft / microsoft/WSL

WSL not working after windows update

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Description

### Windows Version

10.0.26200.7462

### WSL Version

2.6.3.0

### Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

- [x] WSL 2
- [ ] WSL 1

### Kernel Version

6.6.87.2-1

### Distro Version

Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS

### Other Software

Windows

### Repro Steps

Get a forced update from Windows, which will restart your computer forcely.
Then try to run Ubuntu or VSCode connected to it... and get errors.
Now imagine if you lost all the work and setup and temporary files not sync with github.

### Expected Behavior

Everything just works and using WSL feels safe to work with.

### Actual Behavior

Fear of losing progress. System not working. Losing time to report bugs and blocked from work while not finding a solution.

### Diagnostic Logs

Fehler beim Anfügen des Datenträgers "C:\Program Files\WSL\system.vhd" an WSL2: Das System kann die angegebene Datei nicht finden.
Fehlercode: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/CreateVm/MountDisk/HCS/ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26200.7462]
PS C:\Users\henry> wsl.exe --version
WSL-Version: 2.6.3.0
Kernelversion: 6.6.87.2-1
WSLg-Version: 1.0.71
MSRDC-Version: 1.2.6353
Direct3D-Version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore-Version: 10.0.26100.1-240331-1435.ge-release
Windows-Version: 10.0.26200.7462
PS C:\Users\henry> lsb_release -r

[2025-12-20 10:13:17.667] NodeExecServer run: C:\WINDOWS\System32\wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-22.04 -e sh -c if [ -d ~/.vscode-server/bin/994fd12f8d3a5aa16f17d42c041e5809167e845a ]; then printf 'install-found '; fi; if [ -f /etc/alpine-release ]; then printf 'alpine-'; fi; uname -m;
[2025-12-20 10:13:18.705] Unable to detect if server is already installed: Error: Failed to probe if server is already installed: code: Failed to probe if server is already installed: code: 4294967295, , Fehler beim Anf�gen des Datentr�gers "C:\Program Files\WSL\system.vhd" an WSL2: Das System kann die angegebene Datei nicht finden.
[2025-12-20 10:13:18.705] Fehlercode: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/CreateVm/MountDisk/HCS/ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND
[2025-12-20 10:13:18.705]
[2025-12-20 10:13:18.705] NodeExecServer run: C:\WINDOWS\System32\wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-22.04 sh -c '"$VSCODE_WSL_EXT_LOCATION/scripts/wslServer.sh" 994fd12f8d3a5aa16f17d42c041e5809167e845a stable code-server .vscode-server --host=127.0.0.1 --port=0 --connection-token=212470529-1317219931-825800281-1656135564 --use-host-proxy --without-browser-env-var --disable-websocket-compression --accept-server-license-terms --telemetry-level=all'
[2025-12-20 10:13:19.747] Fehler beim Anf�gen des Datentr�gers "C:\Program Files\WSL\system.vhd" an WSL2: Das System kann die angegebene Datei nicht finden.
[2025-12-20 10:13:19.747] Fehlercode: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/CreateVm/MountDisk/HCS/ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND
[2025-12-20 10:13:19.747]
[2025-12-20 10:13:19.748] For help with startup problems, go to https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/troubleshooting#_wsl-tips

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

No repository file, test, or code entry point is identified. Start by reproducing WSL 2 startup with the listed Windows, WSL, kernel, and Ubuntu versions, then investigate the system.vhd mount error and compare behavior after the forced update. Done means identifying a reproducible cause and a validated recovery or fix.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
ubuntu, vscode
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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