diff --git a/src/features/tmux-installer/main/infrastructure/wsl/TmuxWslService.ts b/src/features/tmux-installer/main/infrastructure/wsl/TmuxWslService.ts
index b6ccfcda..a56ebea8 100644
--- a/src/features/tmux-installer/main/infrastructure/wsl/TmuxWslService.ts
+++ b/src/features/tmux-installer/main/infrastructure/wsl/TmuxWslService.ts
@@ -115,11 +115,14 @@ export class TmuxWslService {
       };
     }
 
-    const distros = this.#parseWslDistros(distroListProbe.stdout);
+    const listedDistros = this.#parseWslDistros(distroListProbe.stdout);
+    const serviceDistros = listedDistros.filter((distro) => this.#isInternalWslDistro(distro));
+    const distros = listedDistros.filter((distro) => !this.#isInternalWslDistro(distro));
     if (distros.length === 0) {
       if (persistedPreferredDistro) {
         await this.#preferenceStore.clearPreferredDistro();
       }
+      const hasOnlyServiceDistros = serviceDistros.length > 0;
       return {
         preference: null,
         status: {
@@ -134,7 +137,9 @@ export class TmuxWslService {
           tmuxBinaryPath: null,
           statusDetail: rebootRequired
             ? 'WSL was installed, but Windows still needs a restart before a Linux distro can be configured.'
-            : 'WSL is available, but no Linux distribution is installed yet.',
+            : hasOnlyServiceDistros
+              ? `WSL has only service distributions (${serviceDistros.join(', ')}). Install a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu for teammate runtime support.`
+              : 'WSL is available, but no Linux distribution is installed yet.',
         },
       };
     }
@@ -420,7 +425,6 @@ export class TmuxWslService {
       .split(/\r?\n/)
       .map((line) => line.replace(/\0/g, '').trim())
       .map((line) => line.replace(/^\*\s*/, '').trim())
-      .filter((line) => !this.#isInternalWslDistro(line))
       .filter(Boolean);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/features/tmux-installer/main/infrastructure/wsl/__tests__/TmuxWslService.test.ts b/src/features/tmux-installer/main/infrastructure/wsl/__tests__/TmuxWslService.test.ts
index c65aa4a7..4b8f8ab1 100644
--- a/src/features/tmux-installer/main/infrastructure/wsl/__tests__/TmuxWslService.test.ts
+++ b/src/features/tmux-installer/main/infrastructure/wsl/__tests__/TmuxWslService.test.ts
@@ -162,7 +162,8 @@ describe('TmuxWslService', () => {
 
     expect(result.status.wslInstalled).toBe(true);
     expect(result.status.distroName).toBeNull();
-    expect(result.status.statusDetail).toContain('no Linux distribution');
+    expect(result.status.statusDetail).toContain('only service distributions');
+    expect(result.status.statusDetail).toContain('docker-desktop');
   });
 
   it('switches preference source away from persisted after clearing a stale distro', async () => {
diff --git a/src/main/services/discovery/ProjectPathResolver.ts b/src/main/services/discovery/ProjectPathResolver.ts
index 161b56ba..a8376dc9 100644
--- a/src/main/services/discovery/ProjectPathResolver.ts
+++ b/src/main/services/discovery/ProjectPathResolver.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ interface ResolveProjectPathOptions {
   forceRefresh?: boolean;
 }
 
+function isAbsolutePathLike(value: string): boolean {
+  const slashPath = value.replace(/\\/g, '/');
+  return path.isAbsolute(value) || /^[a-zA-Z]:\//.test(slashPath) || slashPath.startsWith('//');
+}
+
 export class ProjectPathResolver {
   private readonly projectsDir: string;
   private readonly fsProvider: FileSystemProvider;
@@ -66,7 +71,7 @@ export class ProjectPathResolver {
     }
 
     const cwdHint = opts.cwdHint?.trim();
-    if (cwdHint && path.isAbsolute(cwdHint)) {
+    if (cwdHint && isAbsolutePathLike(cwdHint)) {
       this.projectPathCache.set(projectId, cwdHint);
       return cwdHint;
     }
@@ -85,7 +90,7 @@ export class ProjectPathResolver {
     for (const sessionPath of sessionPaths.slice(0, maxPathsToInspect)) {
       try {
         const cwd = await extractCwd(sessionPath, this.fsProvider);
-        if (cwd && path.isAbsolute(cwd)) {
+        if (cwd && isAbsolutePathLike(cwd)) {
           this.projectPathCache.set(projectId, cwd);
           return cwd;
         }