Recover/Repair Windows partition w/ThinkVantage disc?

[graytotoro]

Hi all,

My T520's NVS card has never worked right - control panel has always crashed no matter how many updates/backdates and reinstallations/sweeps I run. So being Mr. Tech-savvy I delete the whole shebang and set it to boot into safe mode using msconfig.

But now it's not booting at all - it gets to the log in screen and then it gets stuck in a reboot loop because of some "insufficient memory" or "login failed" error. I've managed to backup my vital files with Linux onto a USB drive and Dropbox, but there's still some stuff I don't want to lose/reinstall. I made the recovery media (1 boot, three recovery discs) and it takes me to the ThinkVantage screen where I have two options: Restore Windows partition (C partition only) and Restore to factory default state.

Which option lets me keep my data and, more importantly, which will let me fix/restore Windows? I also have a x64 Professional disc but I run x64 Premium right now.

Thanks.

[graytotoro]

Ah never mind. Some tomfoolery later and it turns out it there's a Code 39 error with my PCI express controller.