Internet Explorer is my browser of choice, for a number of reasons I'm not going to delve into here (or anywhere -de gustibus non est disputandum, y'know). I'm not thrilled with every aspect of it, though; I like the "Favorites" Explorer sidebar, but it drove me nuts that it continually regenerated a folder called "Links" in that sidebar. Everything in the "Favorites" bar should be a link, so it's moronically redundant to place a folder with a half-assed generic name like "Links" there, right?

If there's any way to prevent this behavior, it's either encoded in the executable (far beyond my powers to address) or buried somewhere in the Windows registry. I'm no stranger to "registry hacks", but there should be a safer way to control it than poking around in the registry... and fortunately, there is.

As noted above, if you simply delete the folder, Internet Explorer regenerates it. However, regardless of whether you've set Explorer to show hidden files (View... Folder Options... View tab... "Show all files" in the advanced settings list), the Favorites sidebar will not display objects with the Hidden attribute set. So, right-click on the "Links" folder in the Favorites bar, select Properties from the pop-up menu, and check the "Hidden" checkbox in the "Attributes" section of the property sheet. Presto!

If you ever want to make it visible again, you'll need to open an Explorer window (not Internet Explorer, but rather something like a drive or folder on your local system), go to the View menu, select Folder Options, select the View tab on the Folder Options dialog, and make sure "show all items" is selected in the "Hidden files" section of the "Advanced options" box. Then browse to c:\windows\favorites\, and note the ghostly "Links" folder shown there. Right-click it, select Properties (sound familiar?) and uncheck the "Hidden" checkbox.

Some other programs (I have ICQ in mind, but I'm sure there are more) also put crap in the "Favorites" bar, and this should work to make them go away as well. Our good man wharfinger notes that this doesn't deal with the appearance of "Links" in the Favorites menu, but with the Favorites sidebar always open, I never use the menu anyway. koreykruse also notes that the Links folder is the container for button references on IE's Links toolbar; hiding the Links folder in the Favorites sidebar won't interfere with using the Links toolbar.