Abstract: A waste toner collecting apparatus of the present invention reliably prevents waste toner from spilling when replacing the waste toner box by opening the front cover of an image forming apparatus as the first through fifth shutters close the respective waste toner conveyance end sections. The first through fifth shutters are locked when no waste toner box is mounted in the image forming apparatus. The first through fifth shutters are unlocked when a waste toner box is mounted in the image forming apparatus. It can reliably prevent an operation error of operating the image forming section with the waste toner conveyance end sections left in an open state as the stay of the cover presses the first through fifth shutters when a waste toner box is not mounted.

Abstract: A computer system comprising an application program, a communication control program operating a communication access method having an active process and standby process, an operational environment information storing portion in a common memory to which the active process and the standby process have access, and processor(s). A process for executing the communication control program is multiplexed by the active process and the standby process, the active process forms an operational environment of a logical connection between an application program and a user terminal, and the operational environment is set in the common memory. When the active process malfunctions and an event wherein the standby process cannot continue the communication occurs, in each logical connection, an under data processing flag is stored in the common memory, and the flag is cleared when the process of the event is completed.