Hardware

Right click on the file you want, select security, form the resulting window press the "add..." button and add the user you are logged in as to the people who can access this folder. This should get you access to the folder.

If, on the old laptop, you set your documents folder to private, the documents will not be accessable to a different user. Can you create another login on the new computer using the same username and password that you had on the old computer? If so, login as that user and remove the privacy by right clicking the appropriate folder and choosing properties, then click the sharing tab and uncheck the box making the files private. You can then log out and back in using your new login and access the files. The old user account can be deleted.