Contributing writer

Grassroots forum for orphaned MPC customers

analysis
Apr 23, 20092 mins

Ex-employees and customers of the defunct MPC Corporation have launched a forum to help each other

Every time I think there is nothing more to say here about the MPC bankruptcy, something new turns up.

Earlier this month, I posted an announcement from Steve, who said he hoped to start a forum to help owners of MPC and Gateway professional computers get drivers, parts, and service. In response to that, I got a note from Douglas who tells me a grassroots forum has sprung up and lives at mpctechsupport.com.

[ Frustrated by your tech support? You’re not alone. Get answers from Christina Tynan-Wood in InfoWorld’s Gripe Line newsletter. ]

“Steve, who you featured in your April 10 article,” says Douglas, “is one of the moderators and the tentative goal is to link in his driver resources with this forum once he is ready. Right now he’s reviewing posts and e-mailing individuals the drivers when he can.”

Before getting involved in this grassroots effort, Douglas worked at MPC. “I quit MPC in 2006 after 10 years in government sales,” he says. “I have access to a decent network of former MPC technicians who I encourage to frequent the forum. I have also attempted to contact the bankruptcy trustee from the whois database info for mpccorp.com to ask if the old subdomain (support.mpccor.com) can be forwarded to the forum. I have little hope they will respond. My company is donating the server space, bandwidth, and forum technical management for the forum as a public service our contribution is and will remain free.”

Got gripes? Send them to christina_tynan-wood@infoworld.com.

Contributing writer

Christina Wood has been covering technology since the early days of the internet. She worked at PC World in the 90s, covering everything from scams to new technologies during the first bubble. She was a columnist for Family Circle, PC World, PC Magazine, ITworld, InfoWorld, USA Weekend, Yahoo Tech, and Discovery’s Seeker. She has contributed to dozens of other media properties including LifeWire, The Week, Better Homes and Gardens, Popular Science, This Old House Magazine, Working Woman, Greatschools.org, Jaguar Magazine, and others. She is currently a contributor to CIO.com, Inverse, and Bustle.

Christina is the author of the murder mystery novel Vice Report. She lives and works on the coast of North Carolina.

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