Hi Girish,
I was trying to install SSO by creating the bundled SQL Express instance. On the other hand, vCemterServer was using the standalone SQL Server 2008 installed and the MSSQLSERVER service - rathen than the VIM_SQLEXP (which, by the way, existed but for some reason could not be started at all).
Also, I could only connect to the vCenterServer db through Studio when domain administrator was set to SQL Server's service Log On setting, while vCenterServer's services could only be started when local administrator was set to their Log On settings. I believe that my problem lied somewhere there...
Unfortunately I cannot see the value you mention, as I am in the middle of a fresh Windows Server & vCenterServer installation - I was in a real hurry and could find no solution/ other workaround for getting to 5.1...
Thank you for your help anyway,
Regards,
Marietta