edit: a well deserved double post...
After reading, one user with 512 megs of ram reported negative results after turning off the pagefile.
Other posts on different sites go on to say that it can be done but once again, bad results will happen. So to recommend to the average user that he/she disable something that they might need, is not good advice at all.
Uh, duh, I'd never recommend disabling the PF on a computer with 512mb RAM. I have that in my living room and I keep the PF on so I can actually get some work done. There are some tricks to it but the general idea is, once you get an idea of how much memory your typical computer behavior requires, you can stop worrying about memory usage and start concentrating on being more productive and enjoying your computer.
When I moved up to a dual-core system, I found that my typical lack of page file with 1gb RAM was cutting me short. With two encoder processes running, or two projects in BOINC at the same time, I quickly ran out of memory in places I wouldn't, usually. That's why it's important to gauge your usage and plan accordingly. The absolute last resort I ever end up having to use is turning my page file back on, and it can be done on-the-fly without a reboot. But immediately when I do, I start noticing my computer getting sluggish because it's got that damn old 1990's page file behavior strapped to its back, "conserving" "valuable" memory by putting everything on disk. That's why I always go right back to disabling it again.
I'd never recommend disabling it for anyone with less than a gig of RAM, or now 2gb if they have a modern computer. That is why I ALWAYS ask, before suggesting it, "how much RAM do you have?".
