Revisiting the Past: SQL Server 2005 setup

So you've installed SQL Server 2005, pretty much using the default options. You load up Management Studio, try to connect to the local instance, and you get an error message saying it cannot be located. 

Chances are your SQL Server Browser service was disabled by default (I believe this is a security measure).  Also, you should refer to your local machine as localhost, not local, nor (localhost), which you'll see in some connection strings and is apt to confuse you.