Microsoft Patches Core Duo Battery Bug

Microsoft on Tuesday posted a to fix a power drain problem for notebooks running Intel's Core Duo processor. The issue, which Microsoft had kept quiet since summer 2005, was made public in .

Core Duo-powered portables quickly drained their batteries, Microsoft said in a also posted Tuesday, because the 2.0 kept the from entering "the deeper ACPI idle sleep states, or 'C-states.'

"C-states save power when the processor is not busy. These states range from 'C0' to 'C3' or 'C4.' Typically, an idle portable computer uses the C3 and C4 states to preserve battery power. If an idle portable computer cannot enter or maintain the C3 or C4 states, the battery power drains more quickly."

The Windows patch can be . Users must be using a to retrieve the fix.

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