BrainPOP - Health, Science, Technology, Math, English Animation and Educational Site for Kids.

[X] Why can't I view the movies?

Our website was developed with the most recent Adobe Flash technology, which has had some known compatibility issues with various browsers. If you're experiencing difficulty accessing the movies, 99% of the time the solution is to empty your browser's cache and download the most recent Flash plug-in, or update your current Flash plug-in. Emptying your browser's cache can usually be done from your browser's settings or preferences. You can download the latest Flash plug-in from Adobe.com here:

[X] How do I set up my computers to use BrainPOP?

Click here to download a handy Setup Guide!

Also: Here is a list of Tips for Using BrainPOP!

[X] What kind of browser do I need to view the BrainPOP site?

Mac Users We recommend you use the following: Internet Explorer 5 or later or any firefox browser If these browsers are not already on your computer, you can download them:
Internet Explorer.
firefox.

We recommend IE 5 or later. This version has no Flash compatibility issues. If you are using Mac OS 9.x or earlier, you may have to allocate more memory to your web browser if the installer does not do it for you. If you are using Safari on your Mac, this should also work with BrainPOP movies If you are a Macintosh AOL visitor: We recommend that you use either the Netscape (NS) or IE stand-alone-browser with your AOL program, instead of the built-in browser. The AOL built-in browser uses Internet IE 4.0, which has known Flash issues. Make sure you connect to AOL before launching either browser.

PC Users We recommend that you use the following: IE 5.x and/or firefox browser. If these browsers are not already on your computer, you can download them here:
Internet Explorer.
firefox.

[X]I'm using Mac OS 9 or Windows 95, and I can't get the movies to play.

Adobe, the developer of Flash, has stopped development on the Flash plug-in for these older operating systems. We know that many of these older operating systems can be found in many of the schools that use BrainPOP. For this reason, we do our best to make sure our movies are compatible with these systems. In order to insure compatibility with our site, please make sure that you have upgraded your Flash plug-in to the most recent possible version. More information on these older systems and links for upgrading can be found here.

[X] I'm getting a message that tells me to turn cookies on.

BrainPOP uses cookies to determine what level of access your account has. If you have cookies turned off, turn them on in your browser settings. It's also possible that your browser does not support cookies. We recommend using Internet Explorer 5.x or later or Firefox

[X] How do I turn cookies on?

PC with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later

1. Go to Tools on top of browser
2. Choose Internet Options
3. Go to Privacy tab and click on "Default"
4. Press OK
5. Return to www.brainpop.com

PC with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.X. – 5

1. Go to View on top of browser
2. Choose Internet Options on bottom of list
3. Go to Advanced tab on far right and scroll down to cookie box in list to choose either:
* Always accept cookies or
* Prompt before accepting cookies
4. Press OK
5. Return to www.brainpop.com

PC with firefox

1. Go to Edit on top of browser
2.Choose Preferences on bottom of list
3. Click on Advanced on left hand side of box. On right hand side of box choose either:
* Accept all cookies or
* Warn me before accepting a cookie
4. Press OK
5. Return to www.brainpop.com

Mac OS X with Explorer 5.X or later

1. Go to Explorer in Menu Bar
2. Choose Preferences
3. Double Click on Receiving Files to open its options
4. Click on Cookies
5. On right hand side of box where it says When Receiving Cookies choose either:
* Never Ask
* Ask for each site
* Ask for each cookie
6. Press OK
7. Return to www.brainpop.com

Mac OS X with Safari

1. Go to Safari in Menu Bar
2. Choose Preferences
3. Click on Security on top of window and choose either:

* Accept Cookies Always or
* Accept Cookies only from sites you navigate to
4. Close the Window
5. Return to www.brainpop.com

Mac OS 9 with Explorer 4 and above

1. Go to Edit in Menu Bar
2. Choose Preferences
3. Double Click on Receiving Files to open its options
4. Click on Cookies On right hand side of box where it says When Receiving Cookies choose either:
* Never Ask
* Ask for each site
* Ask for each cookie
5. Press OK
6. Return to www.brainpop.com

Mac OS 9 with Netscape

1. Go to Edit in Menu Bar
2. Choose Preferences
3. Click on Advanced and in area on right choose:
* to accept all cookies
4. Click OK
5. Close the Window
6. Return to www.brainpop.com

[X] How do I delete the cookies?

PCs with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.X or later

1. Open Internet Explorer 4.X
2. Go to View on top of browser
3. Choose Internet Options on bottom of list
4. Go to General tab (the default tab)
5. Click the "Settings" button
6. Click the "View Files" button
7. Delete the brainpop.com cookie file(s). Which is specified under the server www.brainpop.com.

Mac OS X with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.X or later

1. Go to Explorer in Menu Bar
2. Choose Preferences
3. Double Click on Receiving Files to open its options
4. Click on Cookies
5. On right hand side of box you'll see a list of all your cookies: Find and select the 'www.brainpop.com' cookie
6. Press the Delete Button
7. Press OK
8. Return to www.brainpop.com

Mac OS X with Safari

1. Go to Safari in Menu Bar
2. Choose Preferences
3. Click on Security on top of window
4. Click on Show Cookies
5. Select the www.brainpop.com cookie
6. Click on Remove
7. Click on Done
8. Close the Preferences Window
9. Return to www.brainpop.com

Mac OS 9 with Explorer 4 and above

1. Go to Edit in Menu Bar
2. Choose Preferences
3. Double Click on Receiving Files to open its options
4. Click on Cookies
5. On right hand side of box you'll see a list of all your cookies: Find and select the 'www.brainpop.com' cookie
6. Press the Delete Button
7. Press OK
8. Return to www.brainpop.com

Mac OS 9 with Netscape

1. Do a search for the "cookies.txt" file
2. Move the one in your users folder for Netscape into the trash
3. Empty the trash

[X] I downloaded the Flash Plug-in and the movies STILL won't play!

Try clearing your web browser's cache first. This can usually be done from your browser's settings or preferences. Then re-launch your browser. If you continue to experience problems after updating the plug-in and emptying your cache, we recommend that you re-install Flash, but make sure you follow these simple steps before reinstalling. (The installer allows you to select either Netscape or Internet Explorer. You can apply these steps to either browser.)

1. Quit the browser

2. Locate the Plug-ins folder. Netscape and IE both retain separate plug-in folders, which are located inside their respective application folders. You can perform a Find for "Plug-ins" to quickly locate the folder.

3. Remove and trash the following plug-in files from your Plug-ins folder:

Macintosh Users
ShockwavePlugin.class
Shockwave Flash NP-PPC

PC Users
ShockwavePlugin
ShockwaveFlash.class

4. Run the Shockwave installer again, selecting which browser to install to.

If you are using a Macintosh (OS 9 or below), and you are still having problems, we suggest allocating more RAM to your Macintosh web browser. To do this:

a. Quit the browser

b. Select the application's icon in the Finder.

c. Select GET INFO from the File Menu

5. In the Memory section of the window that appears, increase the Preferred Size to at least 25,000 KB. Go even higher if your computers have enough RAM. (You can see how much free RAM is available by selecting ABOUT THIS COMPUTER from the Apple Menu while the Finder is the frontmost application.)

6. Re-launch the web browser application.

[X] I see Quicktime icons where there should be Flash movies!

If you are seeing broken blue Quicktime icons where there should be Flash movies and buttons, there is a fix for this issue that can work in many circumstances.

Close your web browser completely (File > Exit)
Open the QuickTime application
From the menus, select: Edit > Preferences > QuickTime Preferences
Select "Browser Plug-in" from the drop-down list
Click on the button marked "MIME Settings"
Expand the "Miscellaneous" file format section by clicking on the "+" on the left
Uncheck the "Flash file" checkbox
Click "Apply" and then "OK"
Close QuickTime
Open your web browser and see if the fix worked. BrainPOP's homepage is a good place to check, because it contains quite a lot of Flash files.

We hope this fixes the problem for you. If this did not solve the problem, please contact us here.

[X] The quiz plays, but I can't see the questions.

This can happen sometimes, especially if your connection is slow. Clicking the refresh button on your browser will usually solve the problem.

[X]The quiz won't email the results.

Due to an attack on our mail server, we have temporarily disabled the email feature of the quiz. We are in the process of upgrading our mail server, and we will enable the email feature shortly.

[X] Why can't I print the quiz results?

The quiz results print fine on most computers. A small number of computers, however, seem to have difficulty printing from the quiz. We're working on the problem, but in the meantime, a simple workaround is to email the results to a computer with a working printer, and print them from there. Also, make sure your printer is turned on and connected to your computer.

[X] I can't see the names of the movies!

On the category topic list page (the one with all the icon links to the movies), the names of the movies can sometimes disappear. This can happen if your connection to the internet is slow. Usually, clearing your browser cache and refreshing the page will fix the problem. Sometimes restarting your web browser will be necessary. Firefox for Windows has some known issues with Flash (the technology we use to display these icons), so if you experience this problem often, we suggest using Internet Explorer.

[X] Tim talks too fast in some of the movies.

You're right. Tim talks just a little too fast in some of the movies. In the old days, when dial-up connections were the norm, one of the best ways to keep the movies easy for folks to download was to make sure that they were short. In order to keep the movies packed with info, we needed Tim speak to really fast. Now that more computers have faster connections, (and more importantly, because of the leaps and bounds made in file compression technology), Tim doesn't need to talk so fast. He's slowed down quite a bit in our newer movies!

[X] I keep getting sent to the wrong movie!

This is a known issue with Firefox for Windows. If you scroll down the page using your mouse's scroll wheel, the cursor can lose its focus, which can send you to the wrong movie. This is not so good, we know. We're sorry. We're working on the problem. In the meantime, we suggest using Internet Explorer. Make sure your Flash Plugin is updated.

[X] I can see the movies, but I can't hear them.

Is the volume turned up on your computer? This can usually be set via the control panels.
If there are speakers connected to your computer, are they plugged in? Is the volume turned up?
Has someone left a pair of headphones plugged into the computer? Unplug them.
Can you hear sound in other applications on your computer? If you can't, and you've tried the above steps, then the problem may be with your sound card or operating system.

[X] Where can I find more help?

We also keep separate lists of questions specific to both HOME and SCHOOL.

[X] HELP!

Okay. Here are a list of things you can try that might help. Many of the problems our users experience can be solved by one of these steps. Many of these are repeated above, but here they are, all in one place, just in case it helps. We're not saying that you should do all of these things, but we hope that maybe one of them will solve your problem.

Clear your browser cache.
Update your Flash Plugin here.
Restart your web browser.
Restart your computer.
Try a different web browser.
Try a different computer.
Turn your cookies on.
Enable access to both http://brainpop.speedera.net and http://www.brainpop.com if you use internet filtering software.
If you're not hearing any sound, maybe somebody left headphones in the headphone jack. Take them out.
Are there a lot of computers sharing your internet connection? Try again in a minute or so.

Directions for most of these suggestions can be found in the questions above. If all else fails, feel free to contact us..

[X] Contact Us

Click Here if you still have questions about BrainPOP. If your question is technical in nature, please be sure to include your username, along with information about the computer you are using to access BrainPOP. This should include your operating system (Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, Windows 98, Windows XP, etc.), and the type and version of web browser you are using (Internet Explorer 6, Netscape 5, etc.). Including this information will help us solve your problem faster!