Patent ID: 8161198

Claim:
An information processing apparatus which can communicate with a peripheral device that issues a message including state information, comprising: a computer processor configured to execute at least one computer program, the at least one computer program comprising program code that when executed by the computer processor implements: a reception unit configured to receive a leaving message from the peripheral device, wherein the leaving message indicates that the peripheral device is leaving a network; a determination unit configured to determine a type of the leaving message based on information included in the leaving message; an uninstall unit configured to uninstall, when the determination unit determines that the type of the leaving message is a last leaving message indicating that the peripheral device which sent the leaving message is going to be permanently disconnected from the network, the device driver corresponding to the peripheral device that sent the leaving message; and a display switch unit configured to switch, when the determination unit determines that the type of the leaving message is not the last leaving message but state information indicating a status of the peripheral device, an image representing the peripheral device to an image corresponding to the status indicated by the state information of the peripheral device and to display the image corresponding to the status indicated by the state information of the peripheral device and to display additional information contained in the leaving message, without uninstalling the device driver in accordance with the leaving message, wherein the display switch unit switches, when the determination unit determines that the type of the leaving message is neither the last leaving message nor the state information, an image representing the peripheral device to an image indicating that the peripheral device is unavailable and displays the image indicating the peripheral device is unavailable, without uninstalling the device driver in accordance with the leaving message, and wherein the display switch unit switches, upon receiving an entry request from the peripheral device, the image representing the peripheral device from the image indicating that the peripheral device is unavailable to an image indicating a normal image representing the peripheral device.