I’m running out of USB sticks with all the Windows and Linux images I like to try out. However, I still have a bunch of SD cards left. Both my laptops have an SD card slot but unfortunately they cannot boot from it.
Recently I bought a USB connected multi-card reader and after some experimentation I succeeded in booting from an SD card inserted in the reader. Sweet!
Unfortunately the Windows 7 Download Tool created an invalid image, resulting in a boot error. It is however possible to make the SD card bootable manually. After copying all files from a Windows 7/8 ISO you can boot from it.
Linux images created with pendrivelinux worked perfectly.
I have only tried it with this USB multi-card reader, so your mileage may vary.
So now I finally have some use for those old SD cards!
Frank's API 