noob looking for current info

[Vel]

OK sorry in advance if i tick people off with this post, but I'm looking for updated info on going about playing backups of my cd's. I just got FF 12 today and I'll be damned if I let my kid play with the original, as he's always taking the cd's in and out and I don;t know how many so far have been ruined. I read the sticky on the forum but info seems a little out of date, and wondering what the current methods are to boot up a backup, and what disc copying tools are used to copy the ps2 dvd's?

Do I need a mod chip? I read about some no mod chip boot techniques...

Thanks in advance.