W7 Closed suddenly, won't restart, need to repair (not restore) W7

[wombatpete]

I have a Lenovo W520.
I put a mini-SDD in and copied the operating system there.
Everything worked fine for months.

Today, working and it suddenly W7 shuts down, no way to stop it.
When I turned on the machine next, I got a windows recovery screen (lenovo background) that said it would fix any errors - and then that it couldn't fix them, suggesting that the next step was the Microsoft Favorite "Fix" - restoring the OS from scratch.
Lenovo doesn't give you W7 discs, there's a recovery partition from which you can print restore discs, but I don't want restore discs.
With some trouble, I got the BIOS screen to come up and re-set the HDD as the boot disc.
Not only am I in the computer, but it seems to have all my latest configurations, the browsers even come up with the tabs I last had open - I'm not sure how that can be, but it is.
Anyway, I need to fix windows on the SDD without losing all the data and configurations there.
Any ideas?
My gratitude in advance!

It's a Lenovo W520
Intel Core i7-2720QM 2.20 GH
8GB mem
64 bit OS
80GB SDD
300GB HDD
In disc management, both show as healthy
I'm submitting this, but I'll try to add more information.

 

[writhziden]

How did you have the SSD and HDD configured to work together? That information may be helpful to determine how to resolve the problem.

 

[wombatpete]

HDD in the original HDD slot, the SDD was in the slot for the... what's it called? The card that allows the computer to connect to the internet wirelessly via the phone signal (not the router signal).

Does that answer the question? If not, help me to answer it better, please!

 

[writhziden]

What data configuration were they using? Did you have user files stored on the HDD or SSD? How was the pagefile set up? Where did you install programs?

 

[wombatpete]

As I recall, I printed restore discs, then removed the HDD and installed the SSD and restored the system.
Then, leaving the SSD set as the boot drive, put the HDD back in for storage.

As it happens, I have data files on both discs.

The odd thing is that, although I've now managed to boot from the HDD, which has its own copy of the OS, all the configuration changes (desktop, toolbars, etc.0 I've made since I switched to the SDD are there.
Two browsers (FF & Opera) correctly remember the windows they were shut with before the crash (all that has to be on the SDD).

The SDD is available, I copied the most crucial files onto a flash drive for now.

BUT Open writer - while it does remember the files that were open when Windows closed - is NOT able recover the files that had not yet been saved with their own names.

Does that answer the questions?

 

[wombatpete]

And thanks for the attention and, hopefully, help!

 

[Kaktussoft]

As I recall, I printed restore discs, then removed the HDD and installed the SSD and restored the system.
Then, leaving the SSD set as the boot drive, put the HDD back in for storage.

As it happens, I have data files on both discs.

The odd thing is that, although I've now managed to boot from the HDD, which has its own copy of the OS, all the configuration changes (desktop, toolbars, etc.0 I've made since I switched to the SDD are there.
Two browsers (FF & Opera) correctly remember the windows they were shut with before the crash (all that has to be on the SDD).

The SDD is available, I copied the most crucial files onto a flash drive for now.

BUT Open writer - while it does remember the files that were open when Windows closed - is NOT able recover the files that had not yet been saved with their own names.

Does that answer the questions?

please post a full blown screenshot of "disk management". And tell me what disk 0 and disk 1 is (HDD or SSD)

 

[wombatpete]

Attached

 

[wombatpete]

Disc 0 is the HDD
Disc 1 is the SSD

 

[writhziden]

Note that disk 1 has the C: drive on it. That means you are currently loading Windows off the SSD.

 

[Kaktussoft]

Attached

You booted from disk 1 SYSTEM_DRV (system,active)
Your current OS is on disk 1 as well.

disk 1=SSD as you told me. So what's the problem?

 

[wombatpete]

OK... that would explain some of it.
Except the fact that I chose the other disc off of the boot list and, until I did that, the computer wouldn't start up - instead, the recovery utility tried to fix something, failed, and shut the machine down.
The drive letters are the ones I assigned, yes, and they haven't changed.
I'm not sure what to make of that situation.
Does it make sense to you?

 

[wombatpete]

Hold on, I'm going to test this by restarting.

 

[wombatpete]

You're right. It's now booting. From that disc.

Problem... well, if not solved, at least - vanished.

Time for a comprehensive back-up and test of this system.
How bizarre.

If you have any advice or guesses, I'd appreciate them.
If not, thanks for your time and help.

 

[Kaktussoft]

You're right. It's now booting. From that disc.

Problem... well, if not solved, at least - vanished.

Time for a comprehensive back-up and test of this system.
How bizarre.

If you have any advice or guesses, I'd appreciate them.
If not, thanks for your time and help.

Does lenova recovery environment work? I mean does it start from SSD? If you don't know how to test... disconnect hdd temoprary.
Assuming all is working fine: Now it's time to delete partitions on HDD because you put the files on SSD. Recreate one or more partitions on HDD (not active partitions!)

What is on SYSTEM_DRV partition on SSD?