if (Object.ReferenceEquals(obj1, obj2)) ....

or cast the objects to object first:

    if ( ((object) str1) == ((object) str2)) ...

Note that ReferenceEquals is implemented on the Object static object and not on the object class itself. Therefore is not available on any base class inheriting from object and therefore, for example, there are no such functions as String.ReferenceEquals(...) etc.

To convert a enum to a string, just use ToString(). To convert back use Enum.Parse(...). Enum.Parse returns a type of object, so another cast is requried.

    Enum fred = {Small,Medium,Large};
    ....
    string strEnum = fred.Small.ToString();
    fred myFred = (fred) Enum.Parse(typeof(fred), strEnum);

Ether use the Picture control (not recommended) or the .NET Framework ImageAnimator class (simplified example below)

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WinTest {
  public class AnimatedGIF : UserControl {
    private Bitmap bmpGIF;

    public AnimatedGIF() {
        // Prevent flicker
        this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.DoubleBuffer |  
            ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint | ControlStyles.Opaque, true);

        // This call is required by the Windows.Forms Form Designer.
        InitializeComponent();

        // Load graphic
        bmpGIF = new Bitmap(@"c:\Project\WinTest\EweBeenFlammed.gif");

        // Start playing
        ImageAnimator.Animate(bmpGIF, new EventHandler(this.OnFrameChange));
    }

    public void OnFrameChange(object oSender, System.EventArgs e) {
        // Next frame
        ImageAnimator.UpdateFrames();

        // Signal redraw required
        this.Invalidate();
    }

     protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e) {
        // Draw the current frame
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(bmpGIF, 0, 0);
    }

    /// Auto-generated stuff for designer support
    private System.ComponentModel.Container components = null;
    protected override void Dispose( bool disposing ) {
        if( disposing ) if(components != null) components.Dispose();
        base.Dispose( disposing );
    }
    #region Component Designer generated code
    /// <summary>
    /// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
    /// the contents of this method with the code editor.
    /// </summary>
    private void InitializeComponent() {
        components = new System.ComponentModel.Container();
    }
    #endregion
  }
}

• System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeEnvironment.GetRuntimeDirectory()
  Returns the "runtime" directory. Returns the framework directory when I try it from a console app.
   
• System.Environment.CurrentDirectory [Note: This is a property, not a method)
  Returns the expected runtime directory [only tested in console app, haven't tried web app yet]
   
• System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeEnvironment.GetSystemVersion()
  System.Environment.Version    [Note: This is a property, not a method]
  Returns the Framework version (GetSystemVersion appears to prefix a 'v', but is otherwise the same)
   
• HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\InstallRoot
  (Unsupported) registry holding Framework installation root.

Files can be embedded into the build DLL by changing setting the Build Action for the file to "Embedded Resource". Note that if the file is stored in a sub-directory this becomes a namespace and therefore a "." instead of a "/". For example, to read the embedded file originally stored as "css/HRMSControls.css" we would write the following code:

Assembly a = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
Stream myStream = a.GetManifestResourceStream(a.GetName().Name + ".myEmbeddedFile.css");
StreamReader myReader = new StreamReader(myStream);
string fred = myReader.ReadToEnd();

using System.Diagnostics;
...
string myLogSource="myApp";
if(!EventLog.SourceExists(myLogSource)) EventLog.CreateEventSource(myLogSource);

EventLog myLog = new EventLog();
Log.Source = myLogSource;
Log.WriteEntry("my log entry", EventLogEntryType.Error);