It's the time of year for wrapping up gifts and loose ends, so I'd like to offer a few epilogues to recent columns.
A while back, I responded to a woman who had lost the serial number for her WordPerfect software and needed it to reinstall the program. I told her she was pretty much out of luck, but I was wrong.
It turns out there are a number of free programs out there that can help identify product keys. They all claim to work for Microsoft software, but it's not clear which would work for Corel WordPerfect.
Two popular ones are Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder and Winkeyfinder (don't ask me how they came up with the names). To learn about these and 11 from About.com geek Tim Fisher, visit tinyurl.com/ keyfindergeeks .
A reader from Garner offers her personal experience for the person with intermittent power supply problems.
Years ago, she and her husband had somewhat similar issues. The power company solved most of the problem by installing a surge protector outside the house before the electricity comes in. They pay $6.95 per month for the "whole house" surge protector from Progress Energy, she said.
The power company also offered specific surge protectors for computers, televisions, phones and major appliances. They were expensive, the reader said, but they come with a guarantee to replace appliances if they're damaged in a power surge.
These solutions have reduced her house's power issues from weekly to practically never, she said.
When it comes to transferring files from an old computer to a new one, Ed Downing of Raleigh offers this solution.
Rather than try to run some sort of wired connection between the old and new computer, he suggests removing the old hard drive and temporarily installing it in the new PC. Then you can simply drag and drop the files into new folders.
Downing says he has found this to be the fastest and most reliable way to get a new computer up to speed.
And finally, TechRepublic has an answer to all the gift guides like my last column - a survey about what true geeks really want this holiday season.
Geeks' wish lists were split remarkably evenly among five things: tech toys under $50, Apple iPhone 3GS, geeky movies/books, geekyT-shirts and laptops/notebooks.
Though the largest group of people said they usually shop at Amazon.com, followed by Best Buy, I'd recommend ThinkGeek.com if you're looking for toys, books or T-shirts for the geek on your list.
As for the preferred brands, geeks overwhelmingly report that they want Sony Blu-ray players, Canon cameras and Garmin GPS systems.
Finally, almost 30 percent of respondents said they'd spend $500 to $999 on gifts this year; about the same number said they'd spend $250 to $499. In 2008, the survey showed that people planned to spend slightly more.
