A: It's time-consuming, but easier than you might think.  There are a lot of free utilities that can be downloaded.  Follow the step-by-step below:

Here's what you need before you can create a drive for your PS2:

1. A hard drive (duh!) Check this compatibility list first!!
2. Some PS2 games to copy to it
3. PS2 Network Adapter (here's a handy E-Bay search)
4. WinHIIP (download it here)
5. DVD reader to copy games to new PS2 drive
6. A regular screwdriver (not philips)

DISCLAIMER FOR THIS TUTORIAL: Only copy DVDs you already own, blah blah blah, copying DVDs you don't own is stealing, yada yada yada, and as always; don't play with yourself or you'll go blind...

1. Hook up the drive you intend to use in your PS2 as SLAVE to your PC. [PiC]
2. Install and run WINHIIP
3. Click SELECT DRIVE and choose the drive you want to format.
4. You'll probably get an error to the effect that the drive is not formatted correctly
5. Click FORMAT DRIVE at the bottom (should be enabled after the error)
6. Your ERASE MODE is "Full" and your APPLICATION is "Toxic OS" ... Click OK [PiC]
7. It will scare you with messages of doom and how your drive can never be used for you PC again (OH NOOOOO!!!!!)
8. When the format finishes (depends on the drive size), gather up your PS2 discs.
9. Put one of your PS2 games into the DVD drive on your PC.
10. Click ADD IMAGE(S)
11. In the MENU NAME box, give the image a descriptive name (i.e. Mortal Kombat Deception)
12. Lather, Rinse and Repeat as necessary
13. When finished copying your games, shut down your PC and remove the newly-made PS2 drive.
14. Connect the drive to your network adapter [PiC]
15. Slide the network adapter and drive back into your PS2 and make sure the connection is solid [PiC1] [PiC2]
16. At this point, if you already have an HD Loader program, (HD Advance, etc.) boot with that and enjoy.... otherwise, continue on to Part II...

Part II: Exploiting a back-door from yesteryear

Sony, during the original programming of the Playstation, left a "back door" in the system to allow themselves to bypass the authorization of the inserted disc.  By matching the SLUS code (like a serial number) of the disc to a file saved on your memory card, you are able to launch a small program from the memory card.  This will only work when you insert a disc with that specific SLUS code.   This disc is referred to as a "trigger".   Read on, grasshoppa......

What you'll need for this part:

1. CD Burner and a few blank CDs
2. An original Playstation game .. not a PS2 game, a PS1 game
3. A PS2 memory card with at least 1-2MB free space
4. The Independence Exploit Compiler
5. CD-Burning software (I'll use Nero for this)
6. A way to boot a burned CD on your PS2 (Action Replay, SwapMagic, etc.)
7. A flip-top case or a slide tool to swap the disks
8. A program that can open RAR files

SEE DISCLAIMER ABOVE... SAME THING APPLIES HERE.....

1. Insert your PS1 game into your CD Burner [PiC] (I'm using Triple Play 99 - no particular reason why)
2. Install and run The Independence Exploit Compiler
3. In STEP 1: TitleDB, we'll create our trigger from the Playstation game we just put in our CD drive
4. Choose the drive that your game is in, click GET, then when you see the SLUS number, click ADD
5. In STEP 2: Loader, leave the default chosen.  Should be Keylauncher
6. In STEP 3: Exploit Options, we choose programs we want to load onto our memory card so they can be run by Keylauncher
7. For this tutorial, we will only choose HDL_SERV (HD Loader program) and ExecFTP (an FTP server)
8. For the rest of the options, just leave them on default.  If you want to use the FTP server and have a router, you can set the IP Options, but its easier to load games by connecting the drive directly to your PC and using WinHIIP like we did above.
9. Click START at the bottom and the compiler will compile an exploit based on the SLUS of the game we used as a trigger
10. In Windows Explorer, look at "C:\AusDigital", this is where your exploit was compiled.
11. Open up Nero.  Create a New Compilation with the following options:
    • No Multisession
    • ISO Settings
    • Burn Settings
12. Swap your Playstation game for a blank CD and click NEW
13. Drag the contents of "C:\AuxDigital" to your compilation [PiC]
14. Burn the CD ... and boot your PS2 with a swap disk [PiC]
15. When the system tells you, swap the boot disk for the exploit disk we just burned.
16. Watch the exploit load up, and wait for it to tell you INSTALLATION COMPLETE
17. Now, turn off your PS2, put your trigger disc (in this case "Triple Play 99") in and power up...
18. Click the square on your controller to start the HD Loader and Voila!! [PiC]