Up until early 2005, most common spyware had the same removal technique: boot in safe mode and scrub the typical spyware areas by hand. But when registry hiding and root kits became easy enough for kiddies, I'm no longer sure what is the method for spyware removal.

I think the recommended tools are regedt32 and SysInternals tools such as Rootkit Revealer. I don't even want to know what spyware is silent and invisible on the machines that I manage. Or maybe my anti-spyware (SpySweeper Enterprise) is keeping them safe... but I doubt it.