My laptop came pre-loaded with Windows 8 64-bit (only storage device is a 128 GB SSD). Since it is my school laptop/I've heard creating a Linux partition alongside Windows 8 is not very wise I installed Ubuntu onto my external hard drive.

I have a 500GB external HDD with the following partitions:

Main Partition - NFTS - ~400 GB
Extension Partition
    / - ext2 - ~25gb
    /home - ext2 - ~30gb
    swap - ext2 - 10gb
    /boot - ? - 10gb

? = not sure of partition

Using the PenDriveLinux installer, I created a LiveUSB version of Ubuntu 12.04 (LTS) on a 4GB USB drive. Using that, I installed Ubuntu onto the external hard-drive, without any errors (or at least none that I was notified of).

Using the BIOS settings, I changed the OS-loading order so that it is in this order:

1. My External USB HDD
2. Windows Boot Loader
3. Some other things

Therefore, Ubuntu should load from my hard drive first, but it doesn't. Also, my hard drive is in working condition, and it turns on when BIOS starts (there is a light indicator). When I start my laptop, it goes directly to Windows 8 (I have the fast startup setting disabled as well).

So, is there any way for me to set it up so that when my HDD is connected, it will automatically load Ubuntu? Thanks in advance!