How do i turn off toshiba bulletin board pop ups?

on my toshiba laptop i keep getting a 5cm (approx) black box in the bottom right corner saying i have a new message and its really annoying and when i play sims 3 or roller coaster tycoon 3 it minimizes' it and then i have to maximize the game again and it takes ages for it to open back up. is there anyway i can turn the black box off ?