i think i found the discrepancy between the two programs. in the 2009 version i clicked on MRU and in the 2008 i did not.
i used 2008 to fix reg errors. it did it well. cleaned it and i double checked it. zero errors. then i used 2009 and it found no reg errors. i was expecting some additional reg errors. upon examining it further, that is when i discovered the MRU was clicked on.
this made me wonder- is there any difference between the two versions regarding the Registry Cleaner programs? does anyone know? thanks