Is the price listed a one time fee or is it a monthly fee?
It's a one time fee for a lifetime license. For $19.95 you have puzzles forever (you can have always new puzzles available as you can create them with anything visible on your screen)

I bought the program in the past but I have a new computer and I lost the emails you sent. What can I do?
If you bought the program's license in the last five years, or purchased any additional set of puzzles in this time, we will re-send your activation code for free. Please email and tell us your name and the email and home addresses you had at the time you ordered and we will email you your activation code. (You can always download the program from the site and additionally you need to keep your activation code as it is what will remove the Demo mode on it)

I wan to order BrainsBreaker as a gift for someone else. Is this possible?
Sure, just order as if it were for you (enter your name and addresses) but add a comment in the order saying "This is a gift for and the "giftee's" name and his email address". We will email the activation code to the person you specify saying that is a gift from you.

I don't know how to create puzzles with my photos
Follow these steps right now and you should get a new puzzle with what you are seeing now (this text, a rather bizarre jigsaw puzzle but interesting experiment):

1) Press the "Print Screen" key (it's at the right of F12)
2) Run BrainsBreaker and it will show a message window saying "Image detected in the Clipboard, do you want to create a puzzle?". Press the Yes button
3) The program will enter in the jigsaw creation screen: You'll see the screen as it was when you pressed "Print screen" and, at the right-bottom, a window where to type the title for the new puzzle and the number of pieces for each level.
4) Before hitting Ok you should crop the whole screen to select only the part that will be actually the puzzle. To do it click the mouse and drag it, you'll see a rectangle that shrinks and grows. The inner of that rectangle will be the actual image of the puzzle.
5) Now click on the Ok button (the one like a green V) at the window of the right and you should see the new puzzle available.

You can do this same procedure whenever you have in the screen something interesting to be "puzzled"

A friend of mine has also BrainsBreaker licensed. Is there a way I can send puzzles to him?
Since version 4.6 of the program there's a feature for this: In the gallery of puzzles right click in the thumbnail of the puzzle (not a saved game), it will appear a menu, one of the options being "Send" that will create an empty email message and attach to it the puzzle file. Your friend will only need to open that file and BrainsBreaker will take care of installing it as any other puzzle.

How can I create a puzzle for sending to my friends that do not have the program?
To create a "gift" puzzle do what you do usually to create a regular puzzle (see earlier question) but notice that when you have the screen where goes the title, number of pieces etc, there is a button labeled "For a gift" at the bottom, push it. 

You'll continue with the process of creating the puzzles but with some slight differences, notice that at the bottom of the window where you enter the data, there is a button labeled "Send", push it and this should open a new email with the puzzle attached. 
NOTE: On some systems the "Send" button doesn't works because of some incompatibility with the specific email software installed. If this happens you can use the other button "Save". Push it and the program will ask the filename and location in your disk where it will save the gift puzzle. Then you can attach it to an email (usually this is done by dragging the file over the email). Please read also the next question.

I sent a gift puzzle to a friend but his email program des not allow attachments and he couldn't get the puzzle.
With the pest of virus spreading some email systems don't allow sending attachments. Firs try generating the gift puzzles in ZIP format (there's an option near the bottom of the window with the settings of a gift puzzle). If ZIP files don't work, then your friend could open a free email account at Yahoo (http://mail.yahoo.com) they allow attachments with the bonus that they are checked for viruses on their servers. If you have problems sending the gift puzzles you can also open one of such free email accounts, it will allow you to send the gift puzzles.

I love BrainsBreaker, do you have other programs?
Thanks! :-) Yes, there is an animated kaleidoscope based on the photos stored in the computer (and it can also use the images of BrainsBreaker). It is at http://www.photoechoes.com With a free trial of course. Hint: Have you tried doing a jigsaw puzzle with the image of a kaleidoscope? We also have PhotoChances a large collection of photographic effects that run in a slideshow displaying your photographs with the effects chosen at random. The program also allows controlling and applying the effects to any photographs.

Occasionally I work a puzzle I really enjoy and would like to share it with a friend who is also a subscriber to brainsbreaker. Is there anyway to move or transfer an individual item after it has been placed in a shelf and I have no other copy?
Yes, since version 4.6 there's a popup menu on the elements in the gallery: Right click the puzzle in the gallery and it will appear a popup menu with an option "Open containing folder". Then you can attach that file to an email message (Create an email message and drag & drop the puzzle file to its body). Another option in that popup menu is "Send" that will attempt to create an email message with the puzzle attached to it (but this method might not work on some configurations, in this case do it following the previous instructions). When your friend receive the message with the file he/she will just have to "Open" it (double clicking it), this will start the process for installing that puzzle into his program (This will work only if your friend has BrainsBreaker installed)

I want to have the task bar at the bottom visible while I play the puzzles, is that possible?
Yes, since version 4.5 the program can run in a regular window. To set it in windowed mode, with a puzzle loaded, press the keys Control+F (or press the key F3 and in the window that appears push the button "Full Screen"). The program will then run as a regular window that can be resized at your convenience or maximized leaving the task bar visible. Notice that the program can scroll the background by holding down the space bar and clicking & dragging the mouse. Holding down space and double clicking the mouse will restore the background to the origin. You can switch the FullScreen / Windowed mode at any time by pressing the keys Control+F.

Is there a way to have always the same background playing the puzzles?
Yes, you can set a background you like to be set on any puzzle you start: While playing a puzzle open the Background window (press Control+B). Near the bottom there's a checkable option named "Program's default", click it. From now on any puzzle you start will have this background. You can set also default bacgrounds when creating a new puzzle, for each box,etc. In any place of the program where you can access the Background window you will be able to setup a default background that will be in use in that same place.

How could I save the puzzles to a CDROM?
The puzzles are stored as single files, each puzzle correspond to a file and also each saved game is stored in a single file too. You can inspect the contents of the folder containing the puzzle files (since version 4.6 of the program): In the gallery of the program right click one of the thumbnails and it will appear a popup menu, choose the option "Open containing folder".

Notice that the shelves could help to organize the puzzles, you could move the puzzles you want to transfer to a CD to an specific shelf, open the corresponding folder and then saving the files to a CDROM. The same in the inverse direction.

I was able to make the pieces so that they were all the correct way up (they did not need rotating) but now the pieces always turn.
The program has a feature for doing the puzzles with the pieces "all way up". In the program's version 3.3 and higher,  when you start a puzzle it appears a window where you can choose the level or number of pieces, the shape and below there's an option for this. Check it if you want the pieces correctly rotated at startup.

Many of my puzzles are locked into squares when I open them and I  can't get  them back to "puzzle type" pieces.
(Version 3.2 or lower: There is an option in the program for making the pieces squares instead of classic puzzles. Probably someone left the option set by default. Please do this: 
- At the main window select a new puzzle (not a saved game) with a single click. (Don't start the puzzle, just select the thumbnail with a click)
- Look below the thumbnails the option labeled "Mosaic", uncheck it.
- Now push the button "Save settings" (this one is for leaving the current state of the options as the default for next times)

Is it possible to delete a puzzle?
Yes, to delete a puzzle select it on the main window (with a single click) and press Delete in your keyboard. Notice that for deleting a puzzle there shouldn't be saved games based on that puzzle so first you have to delete any saved game (including completed ones)

I am accessing the Internet at job but I would play at home and there I don't  have Internet access, how could I install the program at home?
Yes, simply download the program and save it to a CDROM. At home, just run the setup from the disc

I have registered BrainsBreaker on my home computer. I have a laptop and would like to have BrainsBreaker on it. Do I have to pay again?
No, the payment is for playing BrainsBreaker on any computer owned by the buyer as far as the program is running on a single machine at a given time. So you can install the program on the laptop and enter your registration code to activate it.

Is there a limit to the number of puzzles I put on the program?
There is not any limit imposed by the program. The only limitation is the available space on your Hard Disk. Notice that if you have many puzzles you can have them distributed on the "shelves".

Why there is not a feature for playing background music?
Rather than using a simple music player embedded in BrainsBreaker you will experiment the same effect and have a lot more control if you run some other music player program such as "Windows Media Player" (it comes installed with windows) or WinAmp. The player can run in the background while you play your puzzles and you can program it in different ways for example to choose randomly songs in your Hard Disk.

I am waiting for an e-mail from you but I didn't get an answer
I answer all the e-mail related to the program, if you do not see my answer message probably is because it can't reach you. The most usual reason is because I am sending the e-mail to a wrong address. Maybe you have your e-mail software misconfigured, so when I reply to your message it goes addressed incorrectly. (There is a trick to make sure you have it right: Send a message to yourself. You should receive it a few minutes later (in some cases could last a few hours to arrive). Once you get it, reply to yourself (hitting the Reply button on the window that shows your message) and look if the answer also reaches you)
AOL users: AOL allows blocking email from outside AOL. Please make sure that your "Mail Control Settings" will allow email coming from brainsbreaker.com, please follow these steps kindly provided by AOL's Customer Care:
1. Go to AOL Keyword: Spam Controls.
2. In the Select the Screen Name drop-down menu, select the Screen Name whose Mail Controls they wish to adjust. 
3. Click 'Custom Sender List' link.
4. Select for the Screen Name or e-mail address that they would like to unblock on the list of e-mail addresses they have blocked, then click REMOVE. 
5. Click SAVE.
6. Click SAVE on the Mail and Spam Controls window.

I've created hundredths of puzzles. Is there some way to organize them?
The program has a feature for storing puzzles in different places, are "shelves", somewhat like folders but handled from the program itself. 
Do this: At the first screen (where is shown the gallery of puzzles) in the left border, there is a thin and tall button labeled "Show Shelves". Push it. This will open the zone for the "shelves" and there will be a button "New shelf"; click it to create new shelves. They you can drag & drop puzzles to the shelves.