linux froze, I don't know how to check cmos battery voltage, you mean a bad cmos battery could cause bsod? I put in another hd to try and do a clean install bsod, I ran a hour stress test boot disc off dvd on cpu, ram, hd, dvd, video and it passed, agh, then I put in one of my hd and tried to install vista, bsod must be a short under my radar, I guess I'm going to end up with just my diagnostic fee on this one, they don't even want data recovery. I hate that when I spend hours on something like this!