How to quickly test to see if SCCM MP is responding to http or not

We are using SCCM OSD to deploy Vista workstations and SMP is used for USMT.
From time to time the build failed due to MP/SMP stopped responding.

Seeing error in SCCM system status:
SMP Control Manager detected SMP is not responding to HTTP requests. The http status code and text is 500, Internal Server Error.
Or:
MP Control Manager detected MP is not responding to HTTP requests. The http error is 12029.

Possible cause: DMP service is not started or not responding on all DMP physical machines.
Solution: Manually restart the SMS Agent Host service on the DMP.

Possible cause: IIS service is not responding.
Solution: Manually restart the W3SVC service on the MP.

For more information, refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base article 838891

You can find some details of the problem from this server log file: mpcontrol.log

Apart from the above mentioned resolution on how to fix it, you can do a quick check to see if MP server is responding to http or not:
http://MP-server-name:portnumber/sms_mp/.sms_aut?MPcert
http://MP-server-name:portnumber/sms_mp/.sms_aut?MPlist
http://MP-server-name:portnumber/sms_mp/.sms_aut?MPlist1
where the "portnumber" is the http port number configured in IIS for your MP server. By default it's "80" but it could be changed to something else by your administrator. You need to find it out first from IIS configuration.

Related information:
Troubleshooting Management Point Issue : Steps to be taken
http://systemcentersupport.blogspot.com/2010/01/troubleshooting-management-point-issue.html

Chris Stauffer posted an updated version of his Client Health Script, version 1.7.
Check it out here:
http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/cstauffer/archive/2009/12/18/sccm-sp2-health-check-startup-script-1-7.aspx