How to force TFS to let me download a folder (other than methods listed)

Use the tf.exe tool from the Visual studio commandline - it can handle wildcards:

tf.exe move <olditem> <newitem>

Example:

tf.exe move "$/My Project/V*" "$/My Project/Archive"

[EDIT] As noted in the comments: move is an alias for rename. Both commands move history.

If you're using local workspaces (TFS 2012+) you can now use the .tfignore file to exclude local folders and files from being checked in.

If you add that file to source control you can ensure others on your team share the same exclusion settings.

Full details on MSDN - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms245454.aspx#tfignore

For the lazy:

You can configure which kinds of files are ignored by placing a text file called .tfignore in the folder where you want rules to apply. The effects of the .tfignore file are recursive. However, you can create .tfignore files in sub-folders to override the effects of a .tfignore file in a parent folder.

The following rules apply to a .tfignore file:

• # begins a comment line
• The * and ? wildcards are supported.
• A filespec is recursive unless prefixed by the \ character.
• ! negates a filespec (files that match the pattern are not ignored)

Example file:

# Ignore .cpp files in the ProjA sub-folder and all its subfolders
ProjA\*.cpp
# 
# Ignore .txt files in this folder 
\*.txt
#
# Ignore .xml files in this folder and all its sub-folders
*.xml
#
# Ignore all files in the Temp sub-folder
\Temp
#
# Do not ignore .dll files in this folder nor in any of its sub-folders
!*.dll