The User Profile Hive clean up service this is a free tool by Microsoft that runs on a Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003 operating system.  Its job is to unload in the registry databases that may remain in the computer’s memory when a user logs out.

It does this by first of all detecting that the user has finished working at the computer, the service then checks for any registry elements and programs that may still have opened registry keys and handles.  These keys are recorded along with the application name and then this service will discard these keys and terminate the running applications.

Some users on the Internet claim that this tool can be used to allow computer to log out and shut down the computer quickly.

This service application is required when using the Microsoft shared computer toolkit, it may also help improve network logout times when using roaming profiles.

The application is available for download from the Microsoft downloads web site as an MSI package.

• User Profile Hive Cleanup Service