Your external HD isn't formatted as NTFS is it?

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=78095

Any reason for this? Unetbootin (or alternatives) are the right tool for this job.

If you've just transferred the files to your external HD your files should be there, but your system may not know to boot from the external rather than local HDD. Is the boot order correct for what you're attempting? (dd wil have the same issue)

Which Live OS are you using? (assuming BackTrack given forum topic), without using unetbootin you can boot the iso, then use the install option, pointing the installer at the correct external HDD. (Make sure you pick the right option, making a mistake could will hose your local system).

Hope this helps, but we'll likely need more info than you've provided to assist further if not.

There was a brief review of one of the levels not too long ago: http://www.ethicalhacker.net/content/view/373/2/

I haven't completed it yet, but the Security Tube course has been pretty solid so far.

If you're just getting started, you might want to run through these resources quickly first:
http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/
http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

However, if you can follow along with everything in the videos, I don't really see a need to break away from them and go through another resource.

www.udacity.com has a lot of Python-based programming courses that help you apply your knowledge in some interesting scenarios.

You'd be surpised what can be copyrighted. Microsoft has abandonded the Metro name for Windows 8 because of this:

http://www.techspot.com/news/49733-microsoft-to-use-windows-8-as-replacement-for-metro-branding.html

As already mentioned before carelessness or greed. Sabu of LulzSec got caught because he logged into IRC before going through Tor.

http://www.americablog.com/2012/03/how-fbi-caught-lulzsec-hacker-sabu-and.html