Is there a simple procedure for an amateur like me?
You can password protect your system either from the desktop mode using Users section in Control Panel or you could go into BIOS mode (Press the button which indicates the entrance to BIOS) then add a password from the Security menu.
Perhaps you can visit http://lnkd.in/x_5FSX from a SmartKey site and find out a possible solution.
You can refer to Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0 for Windows 7 password recovery easily!