Sharing/Networking (Not sure which)

Here is the deal I have a desktop whose OS is XP and I have a laptop whose OS is Vista and all my files are on the desktop which I need to access from my laptop. Hope that makes sense.
On my desktop I clicked on the drive that I wanted to share and selected the shared network option, which it created under a Network Places - Microsoft Windows Network. So then I tried to set up my laptop to access that information but I can't figure out what I need to do because when I get to the step where it asks me to right click on the folder I want to share but I want to share the folder on my desktop not laptop so what am i missing HELP!
I am so helplessly stuck and in over my head - so how do I get my laptop to access my desktop files?
Thanks