Best way to protect Windows 7 Home Premium data

Hi

I've been looking around on the internet for the best way of protecting data on my laptop if the laptop were stolen. It's a bit depressing as it seems like everything can be hacked. There isn't really any particularly important data on the laptop, but I do use it for online shopping and banking. I have Norton 360 that saves my passwords, but they are also saved by Firefox too. I have set a password on Firefox on opening. I have a few questions.

Are the Norton and Firefox passwords safe? Or are they actually easy to get into?

How can I best protect the laptop from someone getting into it in the first place? I have my user account set up as administrator with password, but is that enough?

Is it worth having a bios password and hdd password and how do I do that? I do not have bitlocker because I only have home premium.

Are burglars interested in the files anyway? Don't they just want the hardware? In which case should I let them access the bios so they can re-install windows and overwrite my files? Does it overwrite? Or are they stored in an "old" folder?

I suppose the safest way would be to store files online?

What is the best way to go?

Regards
paranoid Al

Without intention to make any ads, there is Roboform program (unfortunately payed) but relatively robust.
You can set a master password for all your pass-card.
There is also a Folder Lock software (payed too), which seems to be a good one.
Even for uninstall a password is required.
Unless your laptop will be stolen by a malicious professional hacker, you can password-protect your word and pdf files. This may protect you at least against newbies or begginers.
It would be a great solution if we can remote inactivate or destruct his own folders and files when the laptop is stolen (by kind of satellite waves...or something like this...!). Or a kind of bar-code that could be used for destructing the folders and files once the stolen laptop is connected to internet!

Thanks