I'm using Windows 7 system with an Italian keyboard layout

As you can see this layout miss the tilde ~ character and the backtick character.
Btw backtick is not so important because I can emulate it in bash script using $( and ).
The problem is that every time I need the tilde I have to hold Alt and type 1 2 6 (i.e. its ASCII code), it's boring!
And I need it not only in CygWin, but also in GNU R, in eclipse, and much more.
Have you have had this problem with an not-US layout? Is there any fastest way to type the tilde?