Can I install VirtualBox VM onto a USB3 Flash Drive?

Last month, I bought a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD for my MSI FX603-064US notebook. Performance is excellent, couldn't ask for more, especially given the bottleneck, the SSD is designed for SATA3, my MB is SATA2.

But I have a concern. I've read forum posts & articles that states that it's not good to run VM's on a SSD, even in the Data partition, where it now is. I have an XP MCE VM running via VirtualBox, mainly for testing & using XP from time to time. It also performs excellent on the SSD, boots as fast as my main install (Win 7 Pro x64) does.

First off, is it true that running a VM on a SSD is hard on it, or is that a myth? I only run it (the VM) 2 or 3 times a month.

Secondly, if so, can I run my VM on a USB3 Flash Drive, such as this one?

Newegg.com - ADATA Value-Driven S102 Pro Effortless Upgrade 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (Gray) Model AS102P-16G-RGY

That should be enough space for my use, as I'll probably uninstall Office 2010 from the VM to conserve space. Although I could have installed XP Mode instead, I tried it & didn't like it, as only 24 bit color can be achieved, & that's by adding a registry entry. It doesn't even act as a regular install, even lending it 3GB RAM.

And finally, if I do this, does the flash drive have to be inserted all of the time, or only when running the VM? I don't want this to be a permanent mount.

Many thanks for any answers given.

Cat

"Bump"! Does anyone have any answer(s) to my concerns here? Actually, I'd like to buy the USB3 Flash drive & do this, but would like to hear from anyone who has. USB3 should be faster than the original 5400rpm mechanical HDD that was in the computer when bought.

Cat