One embodiment of the present invention involves a roller drive control method for a fixing apparatus in which a separation claw for separating a recording paper and a cleaning unit for removing toner that has become residual on a surface of a heat roller are arranged near a surface of the heat roller that fixes toner onto the recording paper, wherein a predetermined period different from a fixing process period in which fixing of toner onto the recording paper is carried out is set as a toner removal period for removing toner that has adhered to the separation claw, and the heat roller is rotationally driven so that the rotation velocity of the heat roller is different in the fixing process period and the toner removal period.