Trying to interpret user session states on Windows OS

Question

If I call the following API from a local service running on Windows 7:

WTS_SESSION_INFO* pWSI;
DWORD nCntWSI;
WTSEnumerateSessions(WTS_CURRENT_SERVER_HANDLE, NULL, 1, &pWSI, &nCntWSI);

and then go through all returned WTS_SESSION_INFO structs in pWSI and check WTS_CONNECTSTATE_CLASS State members, can someone explain what is the difference between WTSActive and WTSConnected?

Answer 1

Connected means the user has connected and has been (or soon will be) presented with a login screen but hasn't completed it and been verified yet. He might be typing his password, for example.

If the user has locked the workstation, it's been locked by a screensaver, or he has switched to another user account, it doesn't end his session. The user remains logged in and his session would remain marked active. So being connected but not active means there are no processes running under that user's account. (The one caveat being there could be a service or other process running in a separate session under that user's credentials, but that's a different matter.)