I just type "CONTROL" on the search bar and it brings up the old fashioned control panel, which I set to "small icons". After this, just typing "C" or at most "CO" on the search bar gets me to the control panel.

I do a lot of this, especially when setting up a static IP connection with an AT&T router. AT&T routers can't do bridging, so there's a whole lot of configuration in the router, and testing, especially when IP phones are involved.