I have just purchased a new laptop and would like to transfer the data from my previous laptop (which also runs Windows Vista) to the new one. Can anyone tell me the simplest way to do this? Thanks

Copy them to an external hard rive, and then paste them on the new machine.

Are there any other suggestions? I do not have an external hard drive. I was told that I could do it on my home network. Is that possible? If so, please point me to a website that has directions for that.

this is excellent vista network site
http://cws.internet.com/article/3592-.htm

when i transfered my data i set up a network on the two pcs by connecting them both to my router. i then right clicked on the hard drive of the old one and set the properties to share the drive. on the new pc i could then see all the files on the old pc and could just move them over.

oh and disconnect the internet while doing it. just to be safe.

hope this helps.