C#: How to programmatically check a web service is up and running?

Question

I need to create an C# application that will monitor whether a set of web services are up and running. User will select a service name from a dropdown. The program need to

Answer 1

I may be too late with the answer but this approach works for me. I used Socket to check if the process can connect. HttpWebRequest works if you try to check the connection 1-3 times but if you have a process which will run 24hours and from time to time needs to check the webserver availability that will not work anymore because will throw TimeOut Exception.

Socket socket = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork, SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp);
                var result = socket.BeginConnect("xxx.com", 80, null, null);
                bool success = result.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne(3000,false); // test the connection for 3 seconds
                var resturnVal = socket.Connected;
                if (socket.Connected)
                    socket.Disconnect(true);
                socket.Dispose();
                return resturnVal;