manxbox44:
I personally prefer conductive ink pen over solder. More precise/less risk involved.
As for your bios version question: I think it only matters if you're using an HD larger than 137 gb...
xxxx.06 creates one big E: partition
xxxx.67 creates E: up to 137gb, and remaining space as F:
(i *think* - pls correct me if i'm wrong, or verify)