Now, if I were to read from an INI file, if I just specify the filename, do you think that .NET will try to read it from the folder where the executable resides?

This is exactly what happens. I have used my own XML format config files and read them manually (actually I pass them in as a parameter to the EXE because I run the same program with different configs depending on circumstance) and just the filename is required - .NET will assume the default directory the same as the EXE.

-Colin