How have you done 2 to 6 without the Homebrew Channel, the installers are ran from the Homebrew Channel to be able to do those things
extracted???, you just copy the contents of the COPY_TO_SD folder to the root of the SD
Once that is in the Wii the first thing you do is use the exploit before you can install anything
the disc less option usually you just go to the message board and look for a message there, it may be in the previous date if it's not on the date you created the exploit with ModMii
Make sure the date on the Wii is correct for the message to show
Don't change what was setup for you.