The following are things that should be checked prior to connecting to the laptops network.
More detailed explanations follow.
Check to make sure that you don't have file sharing turned on. Consider using the U.CC text based e-mail, over a product such as Outlook, or Netscape mail. Reciently, there has been a lot of activity in the e-mail virus category. In general, only Windows machines are affected, and only the ones running e-mail programs that have the ability to execute macros. The majority of them have been directed at Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program.