Integrated terminal fails to start on Windows 10 1607 (14393) after update to 1.109.5: Cannot launch conpty

[yuilukshi-commits]

Type: Bug

VS Code version

• Working version: 1.108.2
  • Commit: c9d77990917f3102ada88be140d28b038d1dd7c7
  • Date: 2026-01-21T13:52:09.270Z
  • Electron: 39.2.7
  • Chromium: 142.0.7444.235
• Broken version: 1.109.5
  • Commit: 072586267e68ece9a47aa43f8c108e0dcbf44622
  • Date: 2026-02-19T19:43:32.382Z
  • Electron: 39.3.0
  • Chromium: 142.0.7444.265

OS

Windows 10 x64, build 10.0.14393 (1607)

Repro steps

1. Install/update to VS Code 1.109.5 (user setup) on Windows 10 14393.
2. Open VS Code.
3. Open integrated terminal (`Ctrl+``).

Actual result

Integrated terminal fails to start with:
Terminal process failed to launch: A native exception occurred during launch (Cannot launch conpty).

Expected result

Integrated terminal should start normally.

Regression?

Yes.

• 1.108.2 works on the same machine and same environment.
• 1.109.5 fails consistently.
• Downgrading from 1.109.5 to 1.108.2 immediately restores terminal startup.

Additional notes

• This appears to be a compatibility regression for older Windows 10 builds (14393).
• I also saw related renderer log entries such as:
  • UriError: Scheme contains illegal characters
  • terminal startup failure notifications
• Extensions are not required to reproduce (issue still occurs after update on this OS/build).

VS Code version: Code 1.109.5 (0725862, 2026-02-19T19:43:32.382Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.14393
Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz (8 x 2592)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled GPU0: VENDOR= 0x8086, DEVICE=0x191b [Intel(R) HD Graphics 530], DRIVER_VENDOR=Intel, DRIVER_VERSION=21.20.16.4542 ACTIVE GPU1: VENDOR= 0x10de, DEVICE=0x139a [NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M], DRIVER_VERSION=22.21.13.8541 GPU2: VENDOR= 0x1414, DEVICE=0x008c [Microsoft Basic Render Driver], DRIVER_VERSION=10.0.14393.2608 Machine model name: Machine model version: direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off trees_in_viz: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: unavailable_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	7.84GB (3.59GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id 704143c4-73e9-486b-9772-6229a7f92c00
Screen Reader	yes
VM	0%

Extensions (6)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
vscode-language-pack-zh-hans	MS-	1.108.2026021109
debugpy	ms-	2025.18.0
python	ms-	2026.2.0
vscode-pylance	ms-	2026.1.1
vscode-python-envs	ms-	1.20.1
chatgpt	ope	0.4.78

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defaultusage:31403421
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[meganrogge]

/duplicate #288707