When I put the game into the PS2, it doesn't read the disc and then it goes into this browser/ configuration loop.

This often happens when either the disc is bad or you have a hard drive problem, you can try to unplug it for about 20 minutes and try again also try a cd cleaner for the console ,it will clean the eye that reads the disc if after that it still does not work you can take it to a computer shop to have the hard drive tested...hope this helps

Sounds like a variant of the DRE glitch. If it does it on multiple discs you can try cleaning the lens, either with a cleaner disc or if you are vaguely competant with a phillips screwdriver and an alcohol swab, take it apart and clean it manually. If you have it apart clean and grease the rails of the laser carriage too.
Be advised this will be a short term solution, and over time just cleaning the lens will not overcome the real issue of the carriage assembly prematurely wearing its nylon bushings because of the dirt pulled in through the chassis by the fan, which is then deposited on the steel rails because it's attracted by grease. The resulting slop makes it hard for the laser to track properly. OR the other issue is often weak laser bias adjustment which you generally don't want to tackle yourself, and the laser usually needs replacing anyway.
The bottom line is your PS2 can't read the disc because the laser isn't tracking the surface properly, the best hope is it's a dirty lens, that cures it in many instances. Sometimes there are multiple issues and the dirty lens was the straw that broke the camel as they say.
There are a lot of online tutorials explaining how to "turn up the voltage" on the lasers, while there is some truth to the fix doing it correctly requires special test equipment and you're as likely to ruin it as fix it.
Compounding the matter is the numerous different versions of the PS2 which all don't access the bias pots the same way.
BTW I've had a few of these apart and the basic PS2 has no hard drive. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough?