Since the software itself is just a locator tool, it is not required that you install it on your desktop.
If you run the utility on your laptop, you can find the IP address of the LinkStation there. Write down that IP address and head on over to your desktop.
On your Desktop, go to My Computer. In My Computer, click on "Tools" in the menu bar, then "Map Network Drive." On the Map Network Drive screen, choose an available drive letter from the drop-down list, and in the "folder" line, type in a double backslash, the IP address of the LinkStation, another backslash, and the name of the share you wish to map to.
For example, to map to the folder "share" on a Linkstation at IP address 192.168.11.150, you would type in \\192.168.11.150\share