New user with focused direction! Will Excel and VBA do it?

First, the background - I am certain a code geek designed Newsgroup format
and sign-up. Take a lesson from Yahoo. (This should seal my fate with the
group.) OK, Debra, I'm here and on my feet, so far. I built my first userform
with Debra's concise tutorial a couple weeks ago. Excel is intimidating; I
lose my information input. Enough background.

The design-
A form to enter data, specifically related to wood properties - it's a hobby.
Form settings which are saved between sessions. The settings process the
data based on how it is obtained, three methods with one being customary.
Units of measurement are a saved setting depending on the country the form is
used in, US customary, SI, and a combo of both. This isn't just for me. Data
is computed in the form, and "committed" to the spread***, or disposed of.

The spread*** displays all the entered data and the computed results,
buttoned in and safe from my electrical eraser - a mistake. This protected
information can then be further processed outside the safe area. (OK, I'm a
caveman; and the backup print will be available long after Excel 2003 fades
into history.)

The "Will it..." questions-
Resources: 1000 pages of j-walk "Power Programming with VBA"; The little
beginner's VBA book with monkeys on the cover. My VBA is in Office, however,
and attacks me with a splattering of multiple windows when I open it.

1. Can radio-button settings be saved between work sessions?

2. I'm sure the form and spread*** can be protected from "erasures", I
just have to wade through the security-type (policeman) terms in the
glossaries to find the term I need to know. (There is a question in this,
somewhere...)

3. Can either the form, or Excel, be locked at a certain point from
tampering? I have seen the big "CAUTION" boxes about passwords. The major
motivation for getting into Excel and VBA is that a more primitive form I
used was corrupted for personal gain.

4. Should I use something else?

I don't want to burn up a lot of time just to learn at some point in the
effort that a key element in the objective is not available. I haven't found
answers to the above questions; or don't understand enough to see the answers.

Sorry, this just could not be formatted to fit the 12 tips for posting to a
newsgroup.

Thanks. Your advice is appreciated.

--
Bruce McC
.