SharePoint 2007 Dev, UAT, Virtual Set Up

• Great comprehensive info from Steve Caravajal.
• Concise and to-the-point guide from datasprings

An unhandled exception occurred in the user interface.Exception Information: OSearch

I got this error (showed on title) while trying to start the Office SharePoint Server Search service on a dev machine that configured as the first server (with sharepoint search services) on a new farm. It's a fresh install with new OS, DB and SharePoint to demonstrate CMS for a client, never had any this kind of issue before.

Took a little while to find out that I have to use a "machinename\user" format as if this new dev machine is within an AD in the account setting section. Interestingly, I don't need to follow this AD format in other MOSS settings where requires service accounts.

Conclusion: Inconsistency makes life harder for sure :-)