Really glad you got things sorted out. If people in this forum were rewarded with a beer every time a problem was solved, there would be drowning issues.
 
I recommend plugging a 32GB USB drive in a spare port and saving to it periodically. That way even if your data drive dies, you'll have the stuff on the stick. 
 
Basically my protocol is...
 
1 Save to data drive and save to USB stick during session
2 At end of session, copy USB drive data to backup data drive
3 Next day, erase USB stick.
4 Go to step 1.