You will need to create 2 partitions on the hard drive. One for Windows, one for Ubuntu. You will probably have to install Windows on the first and then Ubuntu on the other partition. You should be able to create the partitions during Windows install. Google is your friend for more info.

I made my old desktop dual boot, in fact with the very same Ubuntu installation USB I used on my laptop. On the desktop, my Windows operating system was detected and it asked if I wanted to make a dual boot system, and let me select the size of the partition for Ubuntu. On the new laptop, no operating system was detected and it didn't give me the option of making it dual boot.

Edited to add, I'm thinking it's due to the laptop being shipped with an ASUS flavored version of windows 8.1, and not just straight plain windows. The old desktop, which dual-booted perfectly, is running full retail windows 8 that was bought on a disc at Staples for me to install on the desktop.

It seems that PCs and laptops pre-loaded with Wndows 8 / 8.1 use GPT partition tables, which are incompatible with older OSs. If that's the case the only way to install a non-GPT-ready OS is to wipe and then reformat the HD using the traditional MBR partition scheme.

More here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg463525.aspx#GPT1.

Something to consider before taking the plunge is that reformatting a new hard drive will remove any propitiatory software that might be loaded on it, like the recovery program needed to restore the original OS.

Oh well, no great loss.

If it's like other Windows 8/8.1 PCs the recovery program is in a partition you normally won't see without a disk management utility like the one that comes with Windows. Loading a different OS onto your hard drive won't necessarily wreck or disable your original partition structure so it might all still be in there. And if it doesn't show up when you plug in your recovery USB you can probably still recover it with a free recovery disk, as long as you have another PC you can use to download the software and burn it onto a CD-R or DVD. I haven't had to do that in a while but this one worked like a charm:

http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html

On the other hand, if you weren't planning on using it anyway, I don't know that Windows 8.x is all that great a loss, though I've found it to be very fast and stable, apart from the crappy interface, which you can patch up with a few downloads.