First Game Made in C++ - Galaxy Protection

This is my beta version of a game I coded in C++. I have been working on it for about 8 weeks. To play this game please do the following:

1. Download the zip.
2. Unzip the folder.
3. Keep all contents in the unzipped folder.
4. Open the folder.
5. Run the exe in the folder.

Here is the link to the file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qbsulesl8qxb55p/GalaxyProtection%20BETA%20V1.zip

Or you can use:
http://goo.gl/kCkYmp

I have been working hard on this game for 8 weeks. There have been many obstacles in creating this game. Such as creating particle effects without killing frame rate, reading in and writing out to a file for high-scores, restarting a game instance an infinite amount of times, detecting collision with objects and lines in a game world, spawning objects in a game instance at random time intervals at random places, creating random paths for objects to follow when they spawn, creating music and putting it into the game instance, creating pop up windows for instructions, high-scores, and a game over condition, and many other obstacles.

Pictures of the game are below: