If you’ve ever had to re-install software after replacing a hard drive or on a new computer, you’ve probably experienced the mad dash to find the serial numbers for all of your software. One of the things I’ve always done is kept a document with all of my serial numbers handy so I have everything in one place. When the time comes to re-install everything, I just need to print this one document and I’m all set.

Of course there are times I forget to make note of a serial number and it can seem impossible to find them all. That’s where a utility like the free Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder will help. It can find the serial numbers from more than 300 programs. The same company makes the commercial Recover Keys utility that can find serial numbers from more than 3000 programs.

With these utilities and keeping a file with all your serial numbers, things will get much easier the next time you need to re-install software.