Removing branch mapping in Team Foundation Server 2010

I've got a solution in source control with multiple projects. When I first migrated old code to TFS, I created main, dev, release areas for branches. Being new to TFS at the time, I branched a single project to the dev area, which created the little silver branch icon to show the relationship between them. Having done that, of course, I can no longer branch above or below that spot. So, I can't branch a whole solution.

I tried removing the mapping/association of branches so that I could branch from higher in the tree, but can't find a way to do that. I backed up source control and deleted all other associated branches except for the original one in the Main branch, but the association is st开发者_运维问答ill there despite having deleted the others (I assume TFS still contains history of those associations to the other branches I created).

My question is: How do I safely remove branch associations (the silver branch icon) while keeping history if possible (I don't care about being able to merge anymore), so that I can branch from another area higher or lower in the tree?

Evidently, the right-click menu does not have this option due to user feedback. It can be accessed via File > Source Control > Branching and Merging > Convert to Folder

Source: Microsoft Connect