drcauto out of business

The www.drcauto.com domain has been suspended, and a Google cache of the site made on Dec 28 shows the message, "DRCAUTO HAS CEASED TRADING," where 'trading' is the British term for an active business.



The Australian company had specialized in add-ons for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, and in particular was a bright light for those who desired to extend the programming capabilities of LT.

(HT Roger Renfrow).

Comments

[Arno Braamhorst]

Wrong way to let your customers down!
I bought toolkit max for more then 400 dollar and to use it you need to authorize it every year. Now i need to reauthorize but they don't excist anymore. So i can't use my software anymore. In our country the call this "stealing"
I am pissed off of DRCauto......
pulling the plugg without noticing your customers........ grrrrrrrrrrrrr

[R. Paul Waddington]

I can understand Arno, your comment from one perspective. But Arno if you feel let down maybe you would like to consider Gary's families loss - more than your 400 dollars. If you could bring him back to life, for them, maybe they would be be in a position to continue supporting you!

Gary's death was a huge surprise and he is truly missed by many of us in the industry.

$400.00 dollars will never replace him nor any person lost to many families; I think your comment could have, and should have, been left in you head, un-uttered.

[KMiles]

OK - I need more details - who died? what happened? Our company owns about 70 licenses for Toolkit

[Tim Fleming]

Condolences to the family.

We have several licences that are locking up and failing. If anyone hears anything about re-authorization codes, I would appreciate any good news. Does anyone know of additional sites where news may be posted?

Thank you.

[Evan Yares]

Gary D'Arcy, the owner of DRCauto, passed away suddenly from a stroke in July, 2008. (Doesn't seem that long ago.)

I'm trying to get ahold of his former partner, to see if something can be done to continue support for Toolkit Max.

[Zach]

I also have a few Toolkit Max seats due for re-authorization. If you find out any information it would be great if you can pass it along.

[Evan Yares]

I've gotten in contact with Leonard Liang, the former key developer at DRCauto. He's asked me to send any Toolkit Max users to him, and he will help them. His website is www.cadsta.com. His email, at that domain, is "leonardl".

[Kris Wilson]

This is a very unusual situation,

Our company relies on DRCauto Smart Architect. We purchased this software in good faith for indefinate use & we now face a significant transition & financial burden in just one month from now when re-authorisation is required. Does anybody know why the company wasn't put up for sale? Surely even if the financial benefits were minor, common courtesy for customers with families to support, who have supported DRCauto for years should have been considered.

[Doug Medley]

Evan, Thanks for contacting Leonard for us. I've been selling and supporting the drcauto products for a number of years in Florida and Alabama. I'd talked with Leonard in August about 64 support for Toolkit Max. Maybe in time someone can pick drcauto's product lines and continue on with them.

I send my condolences to his family and friends.

[Arno Braamhorst]

First thing is sending my condolences to the family and friends.
Second I did not know what was happened in first place untill i read the above messages.
Of course I understand now why DRCauto ceased
trading.

[Nigel Varley]

CAD International have purchased the IP of DRCAuto and provide the only legal place to obtain authorization codes.
http://www.cad.com.au/drcauto

Be careful not to approach former employees for codes as these would be in breach of the law. Additionally any products sold by former employees that contains code now owned by CAD International would also be illegal.

[Kevin J Secomb]

‘Be careful not to approach former employees’

Well, that could very well be referring to me. I was the last to quit from drcauto in late November 2009 after 17 years. I have seen drcauto crumble and Gary’s dream destroyed. His dream is gone but he has left a great foundation and a fighting spirit in me to continue. He inspired me to do so much.
CAD International indicated in the early email that was sent out to users they would charge for re-auth codes. Drcauto has never charged for the annual re-auth code and it is disappointing they indicated they would introduce this. They also indicated that they did not have the programming skill to take the software forward at this time. So where is it going? What about Windows 7 and 64 bit?

I have had so many people contact me with dismay at the way drcauto was just closed down. If you are a drcauto user and feel frustrated about what has happened, I am very happy to discuss the great foundation left and certainly the prospects of a bright future.
Gary was a great man and a fighter. He must be watching, because so many things have just fallen in to place for me.

[Ricky]

Thanks Evan for contacting Leonard for us. Thank goodness, someone out there can fill DRCauto’s void by providing alternative solutions to the stranded DRCauto users like me. It seems going with someone who writes software is the way to go.

[Leonard Liang]

‘Be careful not to approach former employees’

Well, that could also be referring to me!! I was the second last to quit from drcauto after 19 years. I don’t want to get involved in backwards and forwards blogs on all this but, yes, it was terrible that Gary has passed away, a great shame. Since leaving, I have now set up my own company and have worked day-and-night to develop my own CAD products, and obviously I know that I can’t use or copy the old drc codes. If anyone wants to know more, send me an email at: [email protected] or visit my website: www.cadsta.com.

Best regards,
Leonard.

[Michael Wiegmann]

Hi Leonard & Kevin,
I have been using DRC's Smart Architect since 1993 and have pushed the barrow for it for many decades.

Although I was shocked and dismayed to hear about Gary, the way the product departed was a disaster for any user. I understand the internal turmoil this may have created but life is tenuous. Henry Ford died, but they're still selling the thing...

A better transition program should have been in place decades ago to cater for this sort of thing. As far as I'm concerned, if the new owners aren't going to actively support the product and only bought it to 'farm' us on to something else they are selling, then all bets are off.

Example: Goggomobile also doesn't existing anymore, nor does the company that bought it in it's death throws support the mark, so, if I want to re-engineer parts for the few die-hards I will.

So, perhaps CAD Int. could step up to the plate and talk to us all in the spirit Gary did, or go away and we'll keep ourselves going.

Ps. I just read above that my comments will be moderated. Hmmmmm Go back to Russia who ever YOU are. How dare you.