Muds the firewall with the 15 days trial is not the free version. A firewall stops unwanted and unauthorised actions entering or leaving your computer. Malware is pop up adverts and phone home spies who piggyback onto your computer along with legitimate things you download. Some freewares pay their bills by allowing this to happen. Those programs Bob and myself mentioned will assist in stopping this traffic. As freeware all of them except the anti virus need to be updated manually from time to time. No, there is no free service providing protection against all three kinds of threats to my knowledge. Basically no one should go on the internet without adequate protection. This is for your own benefit, it is easier to keep these things at bay than it is to remove them. As you state you are a newcomer to computers then it might be fair to say anything that goes wrong you will be paying to have repaired. So avoid those costs by using all the protection you can get. Unless of course you come here for help as you have done now, there are many knowledgeable people here to help you. You also have an obligation to everyone on your address book to maintain a clean computer. If you run with no anti virus or an out of date anti virus and you become infected them everyone in your address book is at risk because these virii can and do send to everyone listed trying to infect them also. That is not intended to frighten you but simply to let you see what is really needed. Simple maintenance needs mere minutes a week. Most anti virus update automatically and need nothing done unless you suspect things, then you run a scan. The malware programs need updating and running perhaps every 2 weeks or so, more if you visit doubtful sites. The firewall will inform you when there is an update.

When you have the calculator open click on "view" in the top bar of the computer and change it to "basic" It probably got changed to "scientific" somehow

This is like asking "where did I leave my door key?". I don't think there's any way to help from afar. The good news is that if this spreadsheet was an analysis of a checking account, nothing was really lost except the time spent doing the spreadsheet. The information is still available from the bank, however that's accessed. An easy way to replicate the spreadsheet analysis would be to download the transactions from the bank's website. Most every bank site has this feature, to download a file of account transactions that can easily read by a spreadsheet program. Easier to move around, reformat and structure transactions already in the spreadsheet than to input each transaction manually. I also agree that using a program like Libre Office is probably a better way to do it. The more important a file is, the more places a backup/duplicate copy should be kept. For my really important files, I have them in at least 4 physically different places, including a copy in a bank vault. Less important, 3. SD cards and thumb drives are cheap insurance. Free programs can automate the backup task. Good luck.

Why do you think it is taking longer? TLDR: See millworkman's comment - It really goes back to economies of scale, all things being equal, your house is less attractive to a sub-contractor, than someone who represents continued work. This is an absolute certainty and there are largely three ways to combat this. Hire someone who the sub will see as an opportunity for continued work to represent you (that is usually a G.C.), or pay more money so that the sub sees your job as more attractive, or find someone that has limited opportunities to work with G.C.'s (this can either be someone who does high quality work at a high price or low quality work for a mid price). Without one of those three things happening you need to anticipate delays. It is possible that your build will happen without any sub-contractor delays, however in most of the U.S. right now, that would be the exception and not the rule. Note: only a few years ago the situation was quite different so be wary of stories where everything went right a few years ago. Those delays can and do add cost, and you should anticipate their arrival and work to minimize their impact. ----- The most important thing about self contracting a project, is being honest with yourself about your abilities. That supposed savings is seductive, yet for most people it doesn't materialize, and not because it wasn't available, simply because those people were chasing savings over creating savings. The things that create savings for self-G.C.ing homes are actually the exact same things that would lead to some success as a contractor were you to enter that business. For example, a large part of G.C.ing is managing your time and schedule well, if you are excellent at managing time and scheduling, then you may create value, and if you were a G.C. that would be a viable pathway to value creation for clients. Or maybe you or your spouse are incredibly talented with construction, having done it for years, or maybe you are incredible at visualization and design so you can communicate and achieve your design efficiently. With all of these things, you are still going to encounter the economies of scale problem, but may still create some savings because of your skill set. However, most people want the savings without any efficiencies to create savings, and attempt to simply cut out a step in the value chain. That rarely works. G.C.'s create value, denying that value is a foolish move. Working to substitute your value for theirs might pay off, and it might not. But either way, they are earned savings and not simply avoided costs.