Redefining what "Never doing that again" means... Troubleshooting with the Windows Sysinternals Tools, Second Edition

When people asked me what it was like writing a book, I'd invariably answer, "It was a once in a lifetime experience.  I hope."  When they asked, "Are you going to write another one?" my answer was always, "No."  (Actually, my answer was more emphatic than that, but this professional blog site's policies don't permit me to publish the quote verbatim.)  Because of the amount of material covered in the Windows Sysinternals Administrator's Reference and Mark Russinovich's and my insistence on absolute accuracy and completeness, working on the book consumed all my nights, weekends and vacation time for two full years.  It was fun to work with Mark and to publish a book with him, but not enough to want to do it again.

So, yeah... Mark and I just signed a contract with Microsoft Press to write the book's Second Edition, with a small title change, "Troubleshooting with the Windows Sysinternals Tools".  Mark has continued to release new tools and to add major features to the existing ones, so while everything in the first book is still accurate, it's no longer complete, to the point that a new edition is worth publishing.  The new book will also have other improvements including an expanded "Case of the Unexplained" section that describes real-world troubleshooting cases solved with the Sysinternals utilities.

Parents of more than one child talk about the amnesia that makes you forget what pregnancy and life with an infant is like so that you're willing to have another.  Tequila has also inspired many solemn vows of future sobriety that were later forgotten.  Perhaps "It's just a second edition, it's not like writing a whole new book from scratch" induces a similar effect.  I'll tell you in a year or so.