Virtual Memory Paging File

I have a laptop computer, 1.8GHz processor and 1.5GB RAM.

Right now, I have 4 programs running (not counting background processes and services, and I'm rarely running more than that, except when I have multiple instances of IE or Firefox open). Applications I'm running are Outlook, Visual Studio .NET, Excel, and Windows Task Manager, and I'm only using 423MB of memory. I have never used up all my memory. In fact, I don't even remember using half of it.

I want to know why I need that Virtual Memory Paging File, under these circumstances? Unlike my RAM, my disk space is quite limited (given that I have two operating systems installed), and that 2.3GB which the paging file occupies (recommended size) would be quite handy if I freed it. As it is, it's using 5.75% of my hard disk space which I have reserved for Windows, and that is quite large portion.

Can I safely remove the Paging file, or reduce its size?

--
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-reliance 1841
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