The first Captain Marvel arc begins by taking a look at Carol's past and establishing how she will be moving forward, so it's a great jumping on point. Issue 9 is also an acceptable start, as it begins a new arc with a new artist and isn't as defined by time travel and backstory as the first arc. In many ways, the first arc feels like an extended origin story for Carol as Captain Marvel, and issues 7-8 tell a one-off, largely irrelevant story, making the arc starting in #9 come off more as the "true" beginning to the series. Also, note that Carol's first appearance as Captain Marvel was in Avenging Spider-Man issues 9 and 10.
As for pre-Captain Marvel stuff, somebody else will be more help there. Checking out some of the 2006 Ms. Marvel volume (volume two) would be a good idea, though the series went in and out of crossovers a lot, and with 50 issues it's no small task to go through it. Essential Ms. Marvel Volume One compiles Carol's first solo run as Ms. Marvel, and it's pretty cheap if you want to check out her past (though it doesn't include her origin, which was in the original Captain Marvel series). After her solo got cancelled, she hopped around Avengers titles some, with mixed results.
This reading list has a comprehensive list of her appearances, though without information on the content therein--you'd have to do the research there yourself. Fortunately, you've got ComicVine's resources at your disposal. In general, her solo series are the best places to look for good Carol Danvers content, though her Binary arc wasn't in them. (I also don't know how good the Binary stuff was, either.)
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