With my somewhat newer machine, I can open the editor from the command line and can even pass it a book to edit. Windows 11 24H2 (26100.3037) on an i9, NVidia T1000 8G display adapter.
Code:
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.3037]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\user>calibre-debug --edit-book "C:\Users\user\Calibre\Intake\L. A. Scott\Winter Tales From Cozy Vales (3516)\Winter Tales From Cozy Vales - L. A. Scott.epub"
QPA platform: windows
devicePixelRatio: 1.0
logicalDpi: 96.0 x 96.0
physicalDpi: 81.55183946488295 x 81.64285714285714
ApplicationPaletteChange event ignored
Using calibre Qt style: True
Sandboxing disabled by user.
Failed to initialize plugin: 'C:\\Users\\user\\AppData\\Roaming\\calibre\\plugins\\KePub Metadata Reader.zip'
Failed to initialize plugin: 'C:\\Users\\user\\AppData\\Roaming\\calibre\\plugins\\KePub Output.zip'
Failed to initialize plugin: 'C:\\Users\\user\\AppData\\Roaming\\calibre\\plugins\\KoboTouchExtended.zip'
Key 'Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S' for shortcut Smarten Punctuation (the sequel) is already used by Save a copy and edit here, ignoring
C:\Users\user>