This sounds like it would make a perfect scenario for one of those off-site storage companies which I hear advertised on radio all the time. Lets you retrieve data from there, assuming you haven't forgot that password, then you could put it on the new drive...assuming you can install one, thereby accessing the computer.

Are there no 'geek squad' type folks who could retrieve your password without changing drives or sacrificing your files? Just a suggestion, but them I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to tech things.