If you notice a popup randomly appearing when you use your computer, there is a good chance that your computer may be infected by a spyware. It's best to get rid of the spyware as soon as you can, because other than being annoying, the spyware can also spy on what you do and send this information to someone else via the internet. The spyware can spy on your surfing habits and the things that you type on your computer, including your user names and passwords.

It's better if you know the name of the spyware that you want to remove, but the following steps should work for most spyware.

1. Start with using an online virus scan. Certain spyware will disable anti-virus software on your system so if you can use an online scanner, do so.

2. Download and install spyware and adware removers like Spybot and AdAware. Once you have these two tools installed, immediately update them so they can detect the very latest spyware and adware. Once they are updated, run them. These tools are a great help in scanning your computer specifically to find malware that are hiding on your system and probably disguised as something useful. They will also remove Windows registry entries that the malware plant. Be sure to restart as soon as the tools are done with their work.

3. Fix your Windows registry. After the spyware and adware entries have been removed from the Windows registry, you should use a registry cleaner to fix any errors in the registry. Because the registry is very important to the smooth running of Windows, it is important to make sure that the registry is cleaned and optimized.