So, while trying to start services on my new MOSS dev server I ran into a couple of problems this week that are worthy blogging material.
Problem #1: The first is that when I created applications for my Default SSP these applications were not showing up in the application drop down in the SSP creation process.
The solution? It turns out that System accounts like Local System and Network Service are not allowed as valid application pool identities in MOSS for SSP applications.
Problem #2: When I went to start services in the operations tab I got an exception error when I tried to start search services.
This was was a little easier, but I read several blogs that said you can't run MOSS without AD (which is exactly what I wanted to do on a dev box). You CAN run all MOSS services without AD, but you still have to put the accounts in as LOCALHOST\AccountName. Unfortunately, only the search services throw and error when you don't do this which is what originally confused me.
Hope this helps some of you out there.