Hi,  Thank you for writing to the Dell Community Forum. The answer for that would be "No". Activating Windows 8.1 would not effect the Ubuntu partition. The partitions will be effected if you are doing a clean installation of Windows.  However, it is always recommended to have a back up of your data before trying anything related to partitions. 
Hi all, I just had my motherboard replaced because the previous one failed. I now need to activate Windows 8.1 with a different product key (the one given to me by the Dell technician).  My concern is that I dual boot Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu, so I have a Windows partition and an Ubuntu partition. If I activate Windows, will this wipe out my Ubuntu partition? Really don't want it to be wiped out because of all the customizations from the research I do... Thanks
Does activating Windows 8.1 wipe out hard drive partitions other than Windows?