The Control Panel in Windows is one of the most useful tools on your desktop. To make it even easier to get there, you can add it to your right-click menu from anywhere with a simple tweak to your registry.

Windows: If you use Windows 10 on a touchscreen-enabled device like the Surface, you might notice that the on-screen keyboard covers up the taskbar when it's in use. Here's how to show both at the same time.

Windows 10's interface is pretty slick, but if you're not a fan of bright colours on your screen, it might be a little hard on the eyes. You can switch to a darker theme for many system apps with a little tweak.

Like previous versions of Windows, File Explorer has a space-wasting OneDrive icon in the left sidebar. If you don't use OneDrive, you can remove this icon with a simple registry tweak.

If your Windows chops extend in any capacity beyond novice, you've no doubt encountered the ever-cryptic Windows Registry, DLL files, User Account Control and other tools with seemingly dark and mysterious powers. Here, we'll explain some of Windows' most confusing features, so you know exactly what's happening when you go to edit them.

Nir Sofer, the intrepid developer behind NirSoft, is always pumping out free and useful tools for Windows. You may not need them all the time, but when it comes to password recovery, network monitoring, or getting intimate with the command line, his site should be one of your first ports of call. Sofer's latest project is OpenSaveFilesView, a utility that reveals most files that have been recently opened or saved on your system.

The default registry editor that comes with Windows does its job with very few bells and whistles, something that can be desirable in a tool that tinkers with the guts of your operating system. Still, there are some features that would make using it much easier, but it's unlikely Microsoft will get around to adding them. Enter Resplendence with its Registrar Registry Manager, which adds bookmarks, regular expression searches and defragmentation tools to your registry-editing arsenal.

Windows' shellbag entries are capable of showing you how and when specific files and folders were accessed. For maximum discretion, Ghacks shows you how you can remove these entries to ensure privacy.

Among its many awesome features, Microsoft Outlook allows you to easily map a contact's address using Bing Maps, making it simple to find their location. If you would rather use Google Maps instead, a simple registry edit will fix that.

Windows: When you save a file in Windows, you're greeted with a Windows Explorer-like box that asks you where you want the file to go. With a simple registry tweak, you can customise which shortcuts appear on the left-hand side.

Windows 8.1 is here, and it offers some handy new features for both the mobile and desktop crowd, including some clever SkyDrive integration. If you don't use SkyDrive and feel that it's in the way, you can easily get rid of it with a simple registry tweak.

Dear LH, Do websites have the right to add entries to the Windows Registry? Thanks, Curious Hacker

Microsoft Office 2013 starts up with a screen showing you templates and recently opened documents. If you find this annoying and would rather get straight to work, all you need to do is change one registry entry.

Aero Shake is a lesser-known but interesting Windows feature that lets you "shake" a window back and forth to minimize all other windows. If you find you often invoke this accidentally and it's driving you nuts, you can turn it off with a registry tweak.

Sometimes, Windows downloads important updates and decides it's going to restart your computer, whether you like it or not. Here's how to disable that behaviour.

Windows: Glary Utilities is a comprehensive PC maintenance tool that cleans and repairs your system, optimises startup and memory, and shreds and undeletes files. The Pro edition, normally $US40 (discounted to $US28 right now) is completely free with this special promo.

Sometimes you just need to do a clean install. Unfortunately, the Windows 8 Upgrade can throw you an error when you try to activate the operating system afterwards. Lifehacker reader uncommoner shows us a workaround for this issue.

Microsoft's free antivirus comes built into Windows 8 as Windows Defender, but it doesn't have an option to scan individual files by right-clicking on them. Our friends at the How-To Geek show us how to add it (or any other program) to your context menu.

Windows only: If you're a Windows tweak addict, you probably use tools like the Registry, Computer Management, Disk Management and Power Options often -- apps that are extremely useful but don't always have obvious or quick shortcuts in the Start Menu. WinPlusX puts them one keyboard shortcut away.