Ubuntu – Windows 8.1 changes boot order

boot-orderdual-bootuefiwindows

I am running dual-boot with Ubuntu 14.04 and Windows 8.1. Everything works great without needing to live boot… except one problem I can't figure out. Every time I boot into Windows, it rearranges the boot order to what appears to be default settings. Let me clarify, if I boot into Ubuntu and restart, then I go to the Grub menu. But if I boot into Windows and restart, then I go straight back into Windows. When this happens I immediately check the BIOS and find that all settings are the same as I left them except the boot order has been rearranged as previously mentioned.

Can anyone explain why this happens or how to stop it? I tried changing the "default operating system" through windows control panel but, of course, only Windows is recognized and listed as an option. For the time being, I set the POST messages to display and delay 20 seconds so I can go straight to BIOS, change the boot order, and boot Ubuntu from there instead of starting Windows and rebooting. But I would love to have my GRUB menu working properly.
By the way, I'm very new to Linux, scripting, etc, so please don't expect me to understand a lot of jargon. I only know the bits and pieces I've introduced myself to as need be.

Thank you all for your time and assistance in this matter.

Best Answer

The cause of your issue could be that you are booting the EFI default bootloader of the harddrive instead of the Windows bootloader (NVRAM entry named Windows Boot Manager), which usually "corrects" the boot order. Just use the Windows bootloader in that case, alternatively you could replace the default bootloader with another one.