First check if Team Explorer is installed:
- Open Visual Studio
- Open Menu Help
- Open "About Microsoft Visual Studio"
- Check for entry like Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Explorer Version 9.0.30729.4413
- If not, install Team Explorer: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16338 and (re-)install VS SP1 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10986
If this is installed, check if you selected TFS as Version Control system:
- Open Visual Studio
- Open Menu Tools
- Open "Options ..."
- Go to "Source Control" -> "Plug-In selection"
- Choose Team Foundation Server
Now you should be able to use Team Explorer. To do this:
- Open Menu View
- Choose "Team Explorer"
- Connect to you TFS
Depending on the TFS version you use, it might be necessary to have a compatibility pack installed (for TFS2010 and TFS2012).
TFS2010: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10834
TFS2012: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29983
An overview of exactly which set of Service Packs and Compatibility packs to install for each combination of TFS, Visual Studio and Windows can be found in this blog post.