I also found this microsft document, originally written for nt...later, microsoft recognized that pagefiles too small were causing great performance problems, and therefore, set the default pagefile bigger in xp...this is very important for everyone, especially those who think a small pagefile is a good idea...xp is by design made to perform with a big pagefile...here is the exact qoute from microsofr, as far as making a pagefile too big, versus too small in the nt kernal;
"...A pagefile that's set too small can lead to overactive disk swapping, or "disk thrashing." The only real drawback with a relatively large swapfile is that you might not have as much disk space available for other uses as you would if you'd followed the pagefile setup recommendations."...
so, obviously, back when nt first appeared, harddrive space was a rare commodity, and ms was trying to conserve same, as report to us, absolutely counterproductive when harddrive space is not an issue...in other words, you can make the pf large, but never ever make the pf smaller then the default.
the default in xp, is NO LESS THEN 1.5 RAM, WITH EXPANSION ENABLED TO 3X THE 1.5 FIGURE, ( this is the default)