Check OS health status

[Isi62]

Hi,

I would like to know what is the most reliable way of checking system health status remotely. For example I know you could ping a server and if you get response then you could assume that server is fine but this might not be the case all the time.

Thanks in advance,
Isar

[Computergeek01]

Being able to log into it through RDP, wmic\wbemtest or a VNC client are usually pretty good indications that it is up and running. Just remember that the Remote Registry service is turned off by default these days and there maybe a few more considerations depending on the purpose of the system and how it was set up.

[Isi62]

Thanks for reply, how do I implement this using C++?

[Computergeek01]

Thanks for reply, how do I implement this using C++?

Through a lot of pain and about a 720 degree learning curve.

If all you want to do is check for system availability on a remote Windows box I would just try to connect with "OpenSCManager()": http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms684323(v=vs.85).aspx

If you get a valid handle back then great, that tells you that the system is up and you can close that handle. If not then the resulting error code will tell you what the problem is.