Is there a builtin webserver on Windows that can serve a known-named HTTP resource?

Question

Ultimately I want a convenient way that I can use in a web-browser to test in a local network if a Windows machine is alive.

Windows, even non-“Server” versions, has many built-in services that use HTTP(s) as the underlying transport mechanism to exchange XML files, e.g., PowerShell, UPNP, RSAT, etc., all of which use HTTP as of 201X.

Usually, in Windows domains, certain administrative tools require connection to, and retrieval of information from, client PCs.

I'm hoping, one of these services with a known port number has a known-named XML.Resource or "index.htm". A Favicon.ico would do, but I do not want to depend on/enable IIS, or the UPNP mediaserver just to get a simple HTTP-resource. Depending on (prexisting) policies that might not even be possible/allowed.

So: Which built-in Windows client remote administration feature could I (mis-)use to fetch a resource via HTTP, ideally a built-in picture logo or XML-resource?

Basically, I want to HTTP-ping a suitably configured domain-joined Windows machine from a JavaScript client-side environment.