Some PC help, Wouldn't you know it? - Boo needs help with Windows XP Options

[Boo]

Alright, I'm just going to make a note of this before I describe my dilemma (which probably requires a simple fix that most people know.)
I'm currently a Mac user (and always will be) and have been using Apple computers since I was 3 (I would post a picture as proof, but have decided against it.) So just keep in mind that all of this PC stuff is, well, new(er) to me. I use Windows XP at school and at work, so it's not all fresh and unknown to me, but I still am in that "slowly and reluctantly getting used to it" stage.


Anyway, I recently (as in, last year) bought a cheap laptop that runs Windows XP (mind you, an extremely slow and temperamental laptop. It hates me. Keep this in mind when replying with some assistance as well. ) My problem is, when I leave the computer idle for three minutes, my screensaver starts to run. Yes, normal. But after a longer period of idleness, when the screensaver has all but faded into a blank, black screen, and when I attempt to wake my computer from this sleeping phase, a screen comes up that claims that the computer has been locked and I need to log in.

Two questions about that: can I disable that somehow? I really get tired of unlocking it (call me lazy, but I'd just like to tap the space bar and go directly back to what I was previously doing.)
That, and I have forgotten my password (dun dun dun.) Which means, instead of the normal unlocking process, I just totally shut down the computer and restart (there's got to be a smarter way to go about this). Is there any way to retrieve a, erm, forgotten password?



Any help at all would be so very greatly appreciated! I use the computer when I'm at work, and, as you may imagine, when you're in the middle of the design process of a project and you're forced to shut down your computer, it really ruins your day. Thanks in advance!