Helpful Tips for SharePoint Developers - #1: Warmup.bat file
Create a warmup.bat file based on this blog post:
http://www.pptspaces.com/sharepointreporterblog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=24
This will allow you to get all the appropriate services running as soon as you fire up your virtual machine. You are developing on a MOSS VM, right?
JJ