Determine if a Windows Virtual Machine is actually up and running?

What kind of remote test can I do to see if a Windows VM (Windows 8, Windows 10, Server 2012 r2, etc) is actually running Windows as opposed to be "running" but in some kind of failed mode with windows non-operational?

I know I can always ping the machine, but I wonder if that's good enough.  I wonder if there is some kind of failed or paused state that will still return pings but the VM not actually be operational.

I have an automatic routine (in powershell) that periodically checks replication pairs on various hyper-v servers and periodically "resumes replication", one VM at a time, and then pauses the replication before moving on to the next VM on the list.  I want to prevent a failed VM (a corrupt VM, for example) from resuming replication and ruining the previous replica.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.