English: Taken after the University of Florida...

English: Taken after the University of Florida vs. Florida Atlantic University football game in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


After taking the plunge on Windows 10 installation when prompted on my circa 2010 laptop I didn’t hesitate. But unlike the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and Chip Kelly with respect to a second chance for quarterback Tim Tebow, perhaps I shouldn’t have.
I spent the greater part of the past week rebuilding the laptop’s original Windows 7 install after Windows 10 got caught up in the dreaded repair loop issue that has been around since Windows 8 (although my Windows 8 install was relatively smooth—different issues, but no repair loop).
Windows 10 essentially bricked my laptop. Ironically enough, the installation got to the desktop and there was a dialogue box near the lower right of the screen that wanted to know how my Windows 10 experience was. Well, I tried clicking on it when the laptop inexplicably froze—neither the mouse nor the trackpad was working. I rebooted only to find the machine in an unending boot, attempting to repair and then rebooting again before continuing the repair cycle again, endlessly, and without resolution, until I just gave up.
None of the solutions available online worked to bring up the Windows 10 desktop again for me. I was able to boot to the command line where I attempted further fixes suggested by users with the same issue, but nothing worked. I was resigned to no love for my Windows 10 installation.
Fortunately, there is a recovery partition on this laptop. Asus did a great job of allowing me to access the rescue software and re-install Windows 7. Since the disk had two partitions, I did not lose any data as I had all of the documents I needed on the partition not containing system files. Essentially, I did a factory reset of the PC and it is finally back up and running, including the Windows 10 icon that will offer to install Redmond’s latest OS once more at some point soon.


Embed from Getty Images

Every person and OS deserves a second chance
While I was thinking of returning to Ubuntu and forsaking Microsoft entirely, due to the ease of restore that Asus provided, I decided to stay with Microsoft and will eventually give Windows 10 another chance over my fresh install of Windows 7. It couldn’t possibly go wrong again, could it? Besides, I believe in second chances.
Tim Tebow doesn’t brick his NFL return debut
I always thought Tim Tebow got a rough deal after leading Denver to the playoffs years back. He was definitely not pretty to watch, but there was no doubting the Broncos stood a fighting chance when he was at the helm of their offense. John Elway’s return to the front office foretold the exodus of Tebow—a remnant of the failed Josh McDaniels era in Denver. Peyton Manning came riding into town and Tebow exited unceremoniously, left to languor with the NY Jets as Mark Sanchez’ backup, never anything but an entertaining footnote to Rex Ryan’s regime in NY.
Tebow ended up in training camp with the New England Patriots before being released and out of football until now. He is a guy many are rooting for and for me personally, it’s because of his story. His is a tale of a guy who kept trying no matter the odds for one more shot as an NFL quarterback. Today he ran one in for a score in garbage time and Philadelphia Coach Chip Kelly was unmistakably smiling at Tebow as they chatted on the sidelines after Tebow’s 7-yard rumble for paydirt.


Embed from Getty Images

The NFL is called the Not For Long league because the average length of career for players is something like two and one-half years. Tim Tebow didn’t light it up today, but he also didn’t shoot himself in the foot, either.
If I can find it in my heart to permit Windows 10 another opportunity to rule my desktop computing environment, certainly the NFL can give Tebow another look. No matter what happens to Chip Kelly and the Eagles this year, Tebow will always be known as a winner in my book. And if Kelly can somehow find a way to let Tebow aid his team’s chances this year, he’s no doubt a winner, too.
I’m sure the Donald would agree.