copying an entire system - where did I go wrong?
 

I need the sata hd in this pc to go into the windows pc I'm setting up, because the xp install cd does not recognize the ide adapter, and tells me there is no hd in there.

I created an ext3 and swap partition, set the disk lables,
formated hda1 with mkfs.ext3, and hda2 with mkswap,
set hda1 bootable,
copied everything with sudo cp -rpxv,
Edited fstab accordingly
Edited menu.lst accordingly,
installed grub to hd0,0 (and again from a live cd with the sata hd disconnected to make sure I got it right.)

But grub won't load. When I put in a live cd, and tell it to boot from the first hd, it will, but it hangs half way through the process.

I'm now on the Ubuntu install/live cd, re-installing the system, but I intend to copy the old system over, so if there is something wrong with cp for that purpose, please tell me.

I have four sata ports, and two ide ports on that motherboard, in case you were wondering. The sata is now disconnected.

dd?
 

I'm having trouble understanding exactly what you are trying to do, but it sounds like you are trying to create an image. I believe the best way to do that is with dd, and the dd target should be unmounted.