diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.test.ts
index 831f06f02d3..88b57887a80 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import * as NodeServices from "@effect/platform-node/NodeServices";
 import { assert, describe, it } from "@effect/vitest";
 import * as Effect from "effect/Effect";
+import * as FileSystem from "effect/FileSystem";
 import * as Layer from "effect/Layer";
 import * as Logger from "effect/Logger";
 import * as PlatformError from "effect/PlatformError";
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ function runShellEnvironment(input: {
   readonly platform: NodeJS.Platform;
   readonly handler: (command: ChildProcess.Command) => string;
   readonly failure?: PlatformError.PlatformError;
+  readonly fs?: FileSystem.FileSystem;
 }) {
   const environmentLayer = Layer.succeed(
     DesktopEnvironment.DesktopEnvironment,
@@ -85,17 +87,23 @@ function runShellEnvironment(input: {
     ),
   );
 
-  const program = Effect.gen(function* () {
+  const coreProgram = Effect.gen(function* () {
     const shellEnvironment = yield* DesktopShellEnvironment.DesktopShellEnvironment;
     yield* shellEnvironment.installIntoProcess;
   }).pipe(
-    Effect.provide(
-      DesktopShellEnvironment.layer.pipe(
-        Layer.provide(Layer.mergeAll(environmentLayer, NodeServices.layer, spawnerLayer)),
-      ),
-    ),
+    Effect.provide(DesktopShellEnvironment.layer),
+    Effect.provide(Layer.mergeAll(environmentLayer, spawnerLayer)),
   );
 
+  const program = input.fs
+    ? coreProgram.pipe(
+        Effect.provideService(FileSystem.FileSystem, input.fs),
+        Effect.provide(NodeServices.layer)
+      )
+    : coreProgram.pipe(
+        Effect.provide(NodeServices.layer)
+      );
+
   return withProcessEnv(input.env, program);
 }
 
@@ -343,4 +351,83 @@ describe("DesktopShellEnvironment", () => {
       Effect.provide(Logger.layer([logger], { mergeWithExisting: false })),
     );
   });
+
+  it.effect("skips ALL PowerShell probes when node is available statically with quotes and no fnm", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const mockDir = "C:\\mock\\temp";
+      const env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { PATH: `"${mockDir}"` };
+      const commands: ChildProcess.Command[] = [];
+
+      const mockFs = {
+        exists: (path: string) => Effect.succeed(path.includes("node.exe")),
+      } as FileSystem.FileSystem;
+
+      yield* runShellEnvironment({
+        env,
+        platform: "win32",
+        fs: mockFs,
+        handler: (command) => {
+          commands.push(command);
+          return envOutput({ PATH: mockDir });
+        },
+      });
+
+      assert.equal(commands.length, 0);
+      assert.equal(env.PATH, `"${mockDir}"`);
+    }),
+  );
+
+  it.effect("loads PowerShell probes concurrently when node and fnm.cmd are both available", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const mockDir = "C:\\mock\\temp";
+      const env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { PATH: mockDir };
+      const commands: ChildProcess.Command[] = [];
+
+      const mockFs = {
+        exists: (path: string) => Effect.succeed(path.includes("node.exe") || path.includes("fnm.cmd")),
+      } as FileSystem.FileSystem;
+
+      yield* runShellEnvironment({
+        env,
+        platform: "win32",
+        fs: mockFs,
+        handler: (command) => {
+          commands.push(command);
+          return envOutput({ PATH: mockDir });
+        },
+      });
+
+      assert.equal(commands.length, 2);
+      
+      const noProfileIdx = commands.findIndex((c) => c._tag === "StandardCommand" && c.args.includes("-NoProfile"));
+      const profileIdx = commands.findIndex((c) => c._tag === "StandardCommand" && !c.args.includes("-NoProfile"));
+      assert.isTrue(noProfileIdx !== -1);
+      assert.isTrue(profileIdx !== -1);
+    }),
+  );
+
+  it.effect("skips PowerShell probes when node is in knownWindowsCliDirs but not on PATH", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const mockDir = "C:\\mock\\temp";
+      const env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = { PATH: "C:\\Windows\\System32", LOCALAPPDATA: mockDir };
+      const commands: ChildProcess.Command[] = [];
+
+      const mockFs = {
+        exists: (path: string) => Effect.succeed(path.includes("node.exe") && path.includes(mockDir)),
+      } as FileSystem.FileSystem;
+
+      yield* runShellEnvironment({
+        env,
+        platform: "win32",
+        fs: mockFs,
+        handler: (command) => {
+          commands.push(command);
+          return envOutput({ PATH: "C:\\Windows\\System32" });
+        },
+      });
+
+      assert.equal(commands.length, 0);
+      assert.isTrue(env.PATH!.includes("nodejs"));
+    }),
+  );
 });
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.ts b/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.ts
index bd8aa6654f7..066e79549a6 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/shell/DesktopShellEnvironment.ts
@@ -378,12 +378,50 @@ const readWindowsEnvironment = Effect.fn("desktop.shellEnvironment.readWindowsEn
 const installWindowsEnvironment = Effect.fn("desktop.shellEnvironment.installWindowsEnvironment")(
   function* (
     config: ShellEnvironmentConfig,
-  ): Effect.fn.Return<void, never, ChildProcessSpawner.ChildProcessSpawner> {
+  ): Effect.fn.Return<void, never, ChildProcessSpawner.ChildProcessSpawner | FileSystem.FileSystem> {
+    const fileSystem = yield* FileSystem.FileSystem;
+
+    // Fast pre-check using static paths (no PowerShell required)
+    const staticPaths = mergePaths("win32", [
+      trimNonEmpty(knownWindowsCliDirs(config.env).join(";")),
+      readEnvPath(config.env),
+    ]);
+
+    let nodeFound = false;
+    let fnmFound = false;
+    if (Option.isSome(staticPaths)) {
+      for (const dir of staticPaths.value.split(";")) {
+        const cleanDir = dir.trim().replace(/^"+|"+$/g, "");
+        if (!nodeFound && (yield* Effect.orElseSucceed(fileSystem.exists(`${cleanDir}/node.exe`), () => false))) {
+          nodeFound = true;
+        }
+        if (!fnmFound && (
+          (yield* Effect.orElseSucceed(fileSystem.exists(`${cleanDir}/fnm.exe`), () => false)) ||
+          (yield* Effect.orElseSucceed(fileSystem.exists(`${cleanDir}/fnm.cmd`), () => false)) ||
+          (yield* Effect.orElseSucceed(fileSystem.exists(`${cleanDir}/fnm.ps1`), () => false))
+        )) {
+          fnmFound = true;
+        }
+        if (nodeFound && fnmFound) break;
+      }
+    }
+
+    const skipProfile = nodeFound && !fnmFound;
+
+    // If node is found statically and no fnm wrappers exist, we can skip BOTH PowerShell probes entirely!
+    if (skipProfile) {
+      if (Option.isSome(staticPaths)) {
+        config.env.PATH = staticPaths.value;
+      }
+      return; // Exit early, 0ms startup!
+    }
+
     // Concurrent, not sequential: these two probes are independent (only their
     // results are combined below) and each spawns its own PowerShell. Run in
     // series they sit at offset 0 of desktop.startup, before anything else, and
     // launch traces measured them at 2718ms then 2066ms — the entire 4.8s
-    // startup span, of which desktop.bootstrap is ~30ms.
+    // startup span, of which desktop.bootstrap is ~30ms. Total cost here is
+    // therefore bounded by the slowest single probe.
     const [noProfile, profile] = yield* Effect.all(
       [
         readWindowsEnvironment(["PATH"], { loadProfile: false }),
@@ -391,13 +429,18 @@ const installWindowsEnvironment = Effect.fn("desktop.shellEnvironment.installWin
       ],
       { concurrency: 2 },
     );
-    const mergedPath = mergePaths("win32", [
-      trimNonEmpty(profile.PATH),
+
+    const fastMergedPath = mergePaths("win32", [
       trimNonEmpty(knownWindowsCliDirs(config.env).join(";")),
       trimNonEmpty(noProfile.PATH),
       readEnvPath(config.env),
     ]);
 
+    const mergedPath = mergePaths("win32", [
+      trimNonEmpty(profile.PATH),
+      fastMergedPath,
+    ]);
+
     if (Option.isSome(mergedPath)) {
       config.env.PATH = mergedPath.value;
     }