Docker wont launch on Windows 11 - docker

Question

I'm going crazy; I have spent way too much time and would immensely appreciate any help.
Here's the problem:
When I launch Docker Desktop, the engine stays on Stopped, and never launches.
I'm on Windows 11
I've installed the WSL 2 backend (following these steps), noticed Hyper-V was not installed so I installed it
I've tried to uninstall and reinstall docker desktop
I've tried to launch docker desktop as admin
I've tried using: 'C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\DockerCli.exe' -SwitchDaemon
I'm really stuck.
When I run self diagnose:
"C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\com.docker.diagnose.exe" check
I get this (trimmed a bit to comply to character limit):
[044:20:57:56.119][I] ipc.NewClient: e7c958f3-com.docker.diagnose -> \\.\pipe\dockerBackendV2 com.docker.service.exe
[goroutine 1 [running, locked to thread]:
[win/backend/pkg/service.NewClientForPath(...)
[ win/backend/pkg/service/service.go:42
[win/backend/pkg/service.NewClient({0x15cf112, 0x13}, {0x0, 0x0, 0x0})
[ win/backend/pkg/service/service.go:31 +0xd0
[common/pkg/diagkit/gather/diagnose.init()
[ common/pkg/diagkit/gather/diagnose/ipc_windows.go:23 +0x11f
Starting diagnostics
[PASS] DD0027: is there available disk space on the host?
[SKIP] DD0028: is there available VM disk space?
[FAIL] DD0031: does the Docker API work? error during connect: In the default daemon configuration on Windows, the docker client must be run with elevated privileges to connect.: Get "http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2Fdocker_engine_linux/v1.24/containers/json?limit=0": open //./pipe/docker_engine_linux: The system cannot find the file specified.
[FAIL] DD0004: is the Docker engine running? Get "http://ipc/docker": open \\.\pipe\dockerLifecycleServer: The system cannot find the file specified.
[044:20:57:56.176][I] ipc.NewClient: e90d0409-com.docker.diagnose -> \\.\pipe\dockerLifecycleServer VMDockerdAPI
[PASS] DD0016: is the LinuxKit VM running?
[PASS] DD0001: is the application running?
[PASS] DD0018: does the host support virtualization?
[PASS] DD0002: does the bootloader have virtualization enabled?
[PASS] DD0020: is the Hyper-V Windows Feature enabled?
[PASS] DD0017: can a VM be started?
[PASS] DD0015: are the binary symlinks installed?
error during connect: In the default daemon configuration on Windows, the docker client must be run with elevated privileges to connect.: Get "http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2Fdocker_engine/v1.24/containers/json": open //./pipe/docker_engine: The system cannot find the file specified.
[FAIL] DD0003: is the Docker CLI working? exit status 1
[PASS] DD0013: is the $PATH ok?
[PASS] DD0005: is the user in the docker-users group?
[PASS] DD0007: is the backend responding?
[FAIL] DD0014: are the backend processes running? 3 errors occurred:
* vpnkit-bridge.exe is not running
* vpnkit.exe is not running
* com.docker.proxy.exe is not running
[PASS] DD0008: is the native API responding?
[FAIL] DD0009: is the vpnkit API responding? open \\.\pipe\dockerVpnKitDiagnostics: The system cannot find the file specified.
[FAIL] DD0010: is the Docker API proxy responding? failed to ping Docker proxy API with error: Get "http://ipc/desktop-diagnostics/ping": open \\.\pipe\dockerDesktopLinuxEngine: The system cannot find the file specified.
[044:20:58:05.735][I] ipc.NewClient: dcada6c0-diagnose -> \\.\pipe\dockerDesktopLinuxEngine Proxy
[044:20:58:14.888][I] (a6e3c814-3) 6b92eeae-diagnose-network C->S diagnosticsd GET /ping
[044:20:58:14.888][E] (a6e3c814-3) 6b92eeae-diagnose-network C<-S NoResponse GET /ping (0s): Get "http://ipc/ping": open \\.\pipe\dockerDiagnosticd: The system cannot find the file specified.
[044:20:58:16.899][I] (a6e3c814-5) 6b92eeae-diagnose-network C->S diagnosticsd GET /ping
[044:20:58:16.899][E] (a6e3c814-5) 6b92eeae-diagnose-network C<-S NoResponse GET /ping (0s): Get "http://ipc/ping": open \\.\pipe\dockerDiagnosticd: The system cannot find the file specified.
[FAIL] DD0032: do Docker networks overlap with host IPs? error during connect: In the default daemon configuration on Windows, the docker client must be run with elevated privileges to connect.: Get "http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2Fdocker_engine_linux/v1.24/networks": open //./pipe/docker_engine_linux: The system cannot find the file specified.
[SKIP] DD0030: is the image access management authorized?
[PASS] DD0033: does the host have Internet access?
Please investigate the following 3 issues:
1 : The test: are the LinuxKit services running?
Failed with: failed to ping VM diagnosticsd with error: Get "http://ipc/ping": open \\.\pipe\dockerDiagnosticd: The system cannot find the file specified.
The Docker engine runs inside a Linux VM as a service. Therefore the services must have started.
2 : The test: are the backend processes running?
Failed with: 3 errors occurred:
* vpnkit-bridge.exe is not running
* vpnkit.exe is not running
* com.docker.proxy.exe is not running
Not all of the backend processes are running.
3 : The test: is the VM networking working?
Failed with: network checks failed: Post "http://ipc/check-network-connectivity": open \\.\pipe\dockerDiagnosticd: The system cannot find the file specified.
VM seems to have a network connectivity issue. Please check your host firewall and anti-virus settings in case they are blocking the VM.
I've authorized Docker Desktop through the firewall, but it didn't change anything. I'd be so grateful for any help!

Answer 1

I payed Docker Pro subscription to contact the support and got this answer that SOLVED it ! Pfiew I had really tried everything, couldn't have guessed that.
The answer :
Hi,
We have identified an issue in Docker Desktop 4.5.0 where the default backend selected after installing is not the correct one.
We will release a Docker Desktop 4.5.1 shortly to address this, in the meanwhile you can switch to the correct backend by editing the following file:
%APPDATA%\Docker\settings.json and at the bottom change the value for the wslEngineEnabled field to true.
After that Docker Desktop should start correctly.
Sorry for the inconvenience
And it worked !!