Patent ID: 8381043

Claim:
An information processing apparatus configured to communicate with a server, the information processing apparatus comprising: a data receiver configured to receive malfunction data from the server, the malfunction data comprising a first number at which a malfunction occurs in another information processing apparatus; an updating module configured to update a threshold number based on the first number if the first number is less than the threshold number; a processor configured to execute an operating system; a counter configured to count and to store a number of times a state of the information processing apparatus has changed independent of a state of the operating system, wherein the counter is a separate circuit from the processor; a monitor configured to perform a malfunction detection test on a component of the information processing apparatus when the number of times reaches the threshold number by causing the operating system to trigger execution of the malfunction detection test by the processor; and a data transmitter configured to send a result of the malfunction detection test to the server.