I have set up a Win XP machine at work that we use as our server, to allow RDP connections. This allows all our staff to access the server from home when needed. As it is not a server OS, we are missing many of the terminal services features a regular server would have. The machine only allows one RDP session at a time (which is a minor inconvenience, but not a big deal).
What is bothersome, is that no one can tell if the server is currently being used in an RDP session, and we all keep booting each other off. Every solution I have found online assumes the remote computer is a Server OS or on a local network/domain. Our staff's home computers are not connected to the office network and we have no domain set up at the office.
Is there any way to tell if the server is in an RDP session before remoting onto the server from home? Ideally we would be able to detect which home computer is accessing the server. But if that is not possible, it would be extremely helpful to at least know that an RDP session is running.
We were previously using logmein, which could tell us if the remote computer keyboard and mouse were active and allow a chat with the user currently remoted on/physically on the machine. This was extremely convenient, but involves logging onto the logmein website and going through a semi-lengthy process of connecting. It is also much slower and resolution is much worse than RDP. Not super convenient for regular daily use.
This post deals with the same issue https://superuser.com/questions/313390/ways-to-check-if-user-is-active-on-remote-machine-before-rdping
but the accepted response is to use qwinsta on cmd, which I believe is only available on server OS's. Other responses include using psexec (I've tried using psloggedon.exe, but this appears to only work for users on the same domain). Another suggests using the wmic.exe command, but when I try that I get the error: The RPC Server is unavailable (I think this also needs to be run on the same domain).
So basically - is there any way to check for active rdp sessions on a Win XP machine from a remote computer not on the local network/domain?
I'm open to outside-the-box solutions like writing a simple app to run on the xp server and tell remote machines what IP is connected in an RDP session.
Going on Harry Johnston's suggestion, I wrote an app which finds who is connected to the xp machine on port 3389, and relays that information by udp to receiving apps. Now we can check if someone is connected and who it is before unwittingly booting them off. Thanks Harry!