Rearrange Desktop, Computer, Network, etc. Folders in Windows Explorer

The arrangement of the "Folders" displayed in Windows Explorer doesn't make much sense to me. For example, the "Computer" folder, is stored underneath "Desktop" folder. It seems to me that my "Desktop" is inside my "Computer", not the other way around.

So, I'm wondering if I may safely rearrange the folders into an arrangement that makes more sense to me. For example I'd like to just delete, or at least hide the top folder, "Favorites," which is just so much superfluous clutter.

Then I'd like to arrange a simple stripped down list of first-tier folders that might look something like this:

+-Desktop
+-Libraries
+-Computer
+-Network

Would I be asking for trouble if I were to start mixing and matching my folder arrangement in Windows Explorer? (My memory isn't all that reliable anymore these days, and I suspect that I may already have made some changes from the default setup without giving any thought to the fact that Windows may not like me messing with its layout).

As a side note, it seems that Windows has a habit of peremptorily adding folders to my folder tree display but I've not been able to decipher the rationale of when and why it does this. Is there an option for requiring Windows 7 to ask for permission before making changes in my Windows Explorer folder tree?

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

My personal preference: let Reagan be Reagan, and let internal Windows operations be internal Windows operations with no change attempts by enduser. After a few hard-knocks, some time ago - I created C-drive OS & programs partition, created C-drive data, pics, downloads, etc. partition; educated all programs to send their stuff to D-drive designated folders. And, I learned long ago not to change in any big way most of the Windows internal operations.