imac osx7.2 sleep problem with external HDs

Ever since putting the new lion system on my iMac about 3 months ago, I'm having multiple problems with external disks. If the computer goes to sleep, I get a message that a volume was not ejected properly. Then, instead of the 4 HD images (partitions) on the HD, there are 2 of each on the desktop, 8 in all. This is a Seagate 600 GB drive. I also use a Seagate 1TB and the same thing happens.

I usually can't do much of anything after awakening. Cursor sometimes disappears. Clicking doesn't work. Programs will not switch. Escape doesn't work.

So I reboot and then, the spinner goes on and on, until I forcibly shut off the Mac and turn it on again.

I've put the Mac and HDs through TechTool and "fixed" them and permissions, but it didn't do much.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Should I delete something in the system preferences, caches, or elsewhere?

This system is not an improvement by any calculation. Programs crash and system gets slow at times. I had to shut off Spotlight archiving (sic?) because the first few days, it would not stop archiving and programs were slowed down. I use "find any file" instead which is much faster with many more options.

Is there a manual for OS Lion? Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? I've used every system since OS2 or 3 and never had problems like this.

This mac is maxed out at 6GB ram.