1,4 = fdisk
But really like Hal said it depends on the situation.
3. Depends on software being used and theres many methods, kind of a wide open question like most of the questions here. Find out what software firedog uses to answer this one.
5. Depends on the bios. Heck some of the old dells here you don't even need to go into the bios. You can go F2 (i think it is, maybe F12) right into a boot device option screen.
6. Yea don't forget visual inspection. Ive seen many odd error messages on boot from a bad motherboard, such as dell's "pc shutdown do to a thermal event" which usually if you check the motherboard you will be able to see a few bulging/leaking capacitors that are the cause.
9. Use safe mode because dangerous mode is dangerous......
Good luck Chaz!