You can mount the hidden partitions (most likely ext4) on your sd card that contain the files you need to edit if you're running a windows pc, using some software, that way it shows up as another drive in windows explorer and you can edit the appropriate files after you insert your microsd via a card reader.
I tried a few different bits of software myself and this was the only one that worked properly for me in windows 10 but it was only a trial version:
http://www.paragon-drivers.com/extfs-windows/
I soon gave up with that method and went with the wifi dongle option, as that lets you do a lot more via ssh, using software like winscp and putty, remotely accessing files and seeing the changes on the device as you're accessing it.