Moving postgresql data to another computer

Good Day All,

I am a newbie to PostgreSQL and I recently installed it on my desktop
(Windows XP) I created a database fine and worked a bunch of queries.  I
am traveling now and I needed access to my database on my laptop
(Windows Vista).  So before I left, I installed PosgreSQL on the laptop
and then copied the data in the PostgreSQL data directory over to my
laptop.

I put the data directory from my desktop in a different place on my
laptop and now I would like to access the data but I can not seem to
figure out how to do this.

I naively tried to just replace all the files in the data directory on
my laptop with the files from the data directory of the desktop but when
I do so, I get the following error:  "could not connect to server:
Connection refused (0x0000274D/10061) Is the server running on host
"127.0.0.1" and accepting TCP/IP connections on port 5432? "

I figure I have at least two options
Option 1)  Point PostgreSQL on laptop to the directory that desktop data
lives in

Option 2)  Replace the data directory on the laptop with the data
directory that came from the desktop.

While I am travelling now (about a month) I eventually will want to move
my database BACK to the desktop so a solution that makes that transition
simple would be ideal.

I've tried searching the documentation, archives, and the FAQs but to no
avail.  I either found it and did not understand how to do it or I could
not find it properly.  Could someone point me in the correct direction ?


Thanks in advance !

-Don