How do I get onto an old laptop with a forgotten password?

So, I have a relative who quite often gives me the old laptops of his work colleagues after he has refurbished them. When he gives me these laptops he puts a very simple password that clever older me has left the same as when hes given them to me.

Now I have a old laptop that i have recently managed to get working, it has important documents that I desperately need, but stupid me from a few years ago changed the password on it and now I can't access said important documents.

I never created a password reset disk and I put a stupid cryptic hint because I thought I was being clever, I just want to know if there is anyway I can access the computer without resetting everything and losing stuff?

It's a HP Compaq 6710b running Windows 7 Ultimate x32bit

I'm the opposite of a tech expert, please help me!

Welcome to the forum our rules don't allow us to help hacking passwords etc if you just want a file you can boot a Linux live CD which runs all from the CD and then copy the file you would then have to reinstall Windows

Thanks but I would also like to use the laptop and I don't have the means to get the Linux live cd. I understand you can't suggest hacking but is there any other way of getting into the laptop without hacking?

Pull the drive out of the old computer, put it into an external USB enclosure, and plug that into a working computer.