From classic topics like Windows tweaking and iPod how-tos to more recent favorites like the iPhone or Wii, our most popular how-to features of 2008 souped up your hardware and squeezed more from your PC.
We enjoy pointing our readers in the direction of cool software, web sites, and other various tips, but what we really love is writing up detailed how-to guides that walk you step-by-step through how to actually do something. Let’s take a closer look at the most popular how-to Lifehacker features of 2008:
Turn Your iPod Touch into …

Our Hive Five feature series answers the most frequently asked question we hear at Lifehacker: “What’s the best tool for the job?” In the past six months, we’ve covered the five best tools in a number of categories, from best instant messengers and DVD-ripping tools to anti-virus applications and BitTorrent clients. Each week, we ask our savvy readers to vote for the one tool they like best out of the top five; the winner represents the best of the best. Keep reading for a look back at the winners …

A good password management application makes your life easier and your identity monumentally more secure, and free application KeePass—the most popular password manager among Lifehacker readers—is the perfect place to start. We've already walked you through getting started with KeePass, so let’s take a closer look at how to get the most from your password management with a few of the best KeePass tricks and plug-ins.
What You Already Know
In our first look at KeePass, we showed you how to set one master password to securely rule all of your …

When you snap pictures at the fireworks display on Friday, you’ll either wind up with immensely rewarding photos or frustration that makes you wish you’d left your camera at home and just enjoyed the show. The outcome has everything to do with the preparation and knowledge you take to the event. Before you go, arm yourself with a few tips and tricks that will prepare you to capture fireworks in all their brilliant glory. Photo by jonrawlinson.

Stabilize Your Camera
Foremost, when photographing fireworks, stability is key. Like butterflies …

Despite the fact that most of you prefer XP to Vista and would rather Microsoft extended XP’s shelf-life, several new and improved features available in Vista would be great to have in XP. This new functionality may not be enough to get you to switch to Vista, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can incorporate Windows Vista’s best features into your current XP PC for free.
We’re going to focus on Vista’s small and large features that are missing from …

PC World magazine rounds up eight tips to stop thieves from stealing your laptop, the most obvious-yet-effective of which is simply locking it up. Apart from their suggestion that you encrypt your hard drive (we’d recommend the cross-platform TrueCrypt for that), all of their suggestions require you to throw down a bit of cash. If you’re not up to spending any money but you still want to beef up your laptop security, hit the jump for a look at a few no-cost solutions for guarding your laptop against thieves.

Windows freeware …

The Digital Inspiration blog suggests that Facebook’s new browser-based chat system, which we stood up against Gmail’s web chat yesterday, works well running inside a Firefox sidebar. To anchor it there, simply add this Facebook Chat popout URL from Bookmarks->Organize Bookmarks, and make sure "Load this bookmark in the sidebar" is checked. The intended two-column layout can make the sidebar a little intrusive into your actual browsing, but you can resize to a narrow strip and still get chat functionality, simply by clicking inside the sidebar to re-order things.
Put Facebook …

Now you never have to wonder if the mechanic is scamming you on repairs. RepairPal.com lets you punch in your make, model, year zip, and repair and then they’ll tell you the normal range of prices for it are. A graph shows the range of costs, broken down to whether you are going to an independent shop or a dealer. The source data, which the site has never been publicly available before now, goes back to 1990. A good resource for getting general numbers for what you can expect to …

DIY weblog Hackosis details how to fix your scratched LCD monitor after a scarring encounter with a sharp object. The post offers two different methods for addressing the LCD scratches, from a temporary fix involving a little petroleum jelly to a more difficult but permanent solution that involves removing the scratch and re-lacquering your monitor. I’ve also heard the pencil eraser method works for simple scratches, though I haven’t tried it. If all this LCD talk has got you in the mood for more LCD maintenance, check out how to …

As you might imagine, we get a lot of questions about using credit cards. Based on those piles of emails we’ve put together a list of 10 things a lot of people don’t know about credit cards. Enjoy! 1) Unsigned Cards Are Not Valid And Merchants Can And Will Refuse Them You might think that everyone knows that you have to sign your credit card in order for it to be valid — after all — there's a panel on the back that says "Not Valid Unless Signed," but …