@Moderator yes, or at least I tried to. In this step:
confirm the “Serial Port” is correctly listed
QGC listed COM3 - COM6 but I couldn't determine easily how those map to my USB ports. At that point I noticed that the device is getting VERY hot, so decided to stop.
Is it normal for it to get so hot? Combined with the "power surge" warning I thought it was safer to stop before smoke.
I was able to use QGC to flash my Pixhawk 2.4.8 with PX4 with no problems, so I am pretty sure there is nothing wrong with the port or with QGC.