Editing SD card (section)

===Personal computers===
Although many [[personal computer]]s accommodate SD cards as an auxiliary storage device using a built-in slot, or can accommodate SD cards by means of a USB adapter, SD cards cannot be used as the primary [[hard disk]] through the onboard ATA controller, because none of the SD card variants support ATA signalling. Primary [[hard disk]] use requires a separate SD host controller<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-7800 |title=TS-7800 Embedded |publisher=Embeddedarm.com |access-date=2010-08-22 |archive-date=2015-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215021402/http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-7800 |url-status=dead }}</ref> or an SD-to-CompactFlash converter. However, on computers that support [[bootstrapping]] from a USB interface, an SD card in a USB adapter can be the boot disk, provided it contains an operating system that supports USB access once the bootstrap is complete.

In [[laptop]] and [[tablet computer]]s, memory cards in an integrated [[memory card reader]] offer an [[ergonomy|ergonomic]]al benefit over USB [[flash drive]]s, as the latter sticks out of the device, and the user would need to be cautious not to bump it while transporting the device, which could damage the USB port. Memory cards have a unified shape and do not reserve a USB port when inserted into a computer's dedicated card slot.

Since late 2009, newer [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] computers with installed SD card readers have been able to boot in [[macOS]] from SD storage devices, when properly formatted to [[HFS Plus|Mac OS Extended]] file format and the default partition table set to [[GUID Partition Table]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3553 |title=About the SD and SDXC card slot |publisher=Support.apple.com |date=2013-06-08 |access-date=2013-11-13 |archive-date=2011-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903100124/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3553 |url-status=live }}</ref>

SD cards are increasing in usage and popularity among owners of [[vintage computer]]s like [[Atari 8-bit computers]]. For example SIO2SD ([[Atari SIO|SIO]] is an Atari port for connecting external devices) is used nowadays. Software for an 8-bit Atari may be included on one SD card that may have less than 4–8&nbsp;GB of disk size (2019).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://retrohax.net/sio2sd-for-atari/|title=SIO2SD for 8-bit Atari|date=May 9, 2016|access-date=October 13, 2019|archive-date=October 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013042823/https://retrohax.net/sio2sd-for-atari/|url-status=live}}</ref>