copying/playing ps2 backups

[jgk81]

I was hoping that someone could give me the low down on what I need to do. I've read past msgs and most of them say to use a mod chip, either neo or messiah. Since I am not that skilled in adding a mod chip I was wondering I its is possible to play a backed-up game without hardware modification, perhaps through the use of a gameshark or through patching the ISO?

Thanks for any and all help
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