Q: How do I get DirectX10? My video card supports it and I want to use it.
A: It is ONLY available in Windows Vista. You'll need to upgrade to Vista if you want to use DX10.

Q: I have a lot of games installed, but I've lost the original manual/envelope so I lost the install key. Is there a way to get the install key back from the installed copy on the hard drive?

A: Maybe, you can try Game Key Revealer, which supposedly works on over 500 games for the PC (sorry, not available for the Mac yet).

Q: I don't have one of those multimedia keyboards with volume control, or those media control mice. I still want to control my volume in a hurry, preferably with my mouse. Any suggestions?
A: Try VolumeTouch, a freebie app. It installs as a tray app. Once installed, hold Ctrl-Shift, then use your mouse scroll wheels (or vertical / horizontal position if you don't have a scroll wheel) to adjust volume.

Q:Do you know where I can get apps that will run straight off a USB flash drive without installation?
A: Best index of such apps is at http://portableapps.com , including OpenOffice Writer, CoolPlayer+, and many more.

Q: Can you recommend a program to record my screen or my webcam?
A: Thanks to AppScout, I now recommend Debut

Q: The built-in defrag is taking forever. Are there something better / more sophisticated?
A: I used to like Diskeeper Lite and UltraDefrag. Diskeeper Lite is too limiting as it will only do one volume at a time, and at times you need to repeat the defrag a few times, and you can't do it in the lite version except manually. UltraDefrag doesn't have many options.

I was just introduced to UltimateDefrag, and I prefer this one to the others.

Q: How do I split a large file so I can burn each piece to a media (CD or DVD), and reassemble them later?
A: PKZIP/WinZIP/WinRAR/7-Zip and any of those archiving programs should be able to generate "spanning" files of appropriate sizes.

If you don't want to use compression, use HJSplit at (http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/)

Q: Can static electricity cause damage to CD-Rs or DVD-Rs and variants? What about CD-ROMs and DVDs?
A: CDs and DVDs rely on chemical process (laser burning for recordable media, and phase change for rewritable media) to record the information. Thus, static electricity cannot affect them.

Q: Is there a new mainboard that supports both PCI-E and AGP8X, but still the new features like DDR2 and such?
A: I originally thought no, but then I was pointed to this board. I have no idea about availability though, or its ratings, if any. At least they do exist!

Q: I have a Linksys router and I saved the config.bin backup file. Now that I forgot the password to the router, is there a way to see what the password is from the file?
A: Yes, you'll need to browse the file (i.e. read it directly) in text mode and go down to about 45% mark. It's about a line or two after the word "admin".