since you have wireless on your laptop, is it safe to assume you have a router and that the pc is connected to it? If so you could set up a directory or several as shared and navigate to them with your laptop. Then again, since you have wireless, you may be opening up your PC to the outside world, unless your router is set up securely, and it is debatable as to whether it is ever secure.
But if you do have a router and a home network it is relatively easy to set up a shared directory. I do it all the time at home but I don't have wireless. You can also do a search on google for windows file sharing. XP pro does it better than home and win 98 and 2000 are easier. It seems like a lot of details, but it really isn't all that bad to set up.
Here is a link that explains the basics.
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...ilesharing.htm
The file sharing gives you access to specific directories on the PC. If you want email, or other programs on the pc you could use remote desktop sharing or netmeeting, or other remote control programs. This gets a little deep, but is doable and can be fun to learn.
Eric