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Weaselboy, Two things:
(1) I should make a copy of Mavericks Installer DMG before upgrade to create bootable installer.
(2) " you make a Time Machine backup to a locally attached external after your Mavs install, it places a copy of that Recovery HD partition on the Time Machine disk also." Does this work with Mountain Lion install? Or this is just one of the new features with Maveicks.

1) Make the bootable USB key before you install the update or the DMG will get erased. So after the DL from the App Store is done just follow this process to make the installer. Afterward you can just eject your USB key and set it aside then run the installer from your Applications folder to install Mavs.

2) This actually started with Lion 10.7.2. So Lion, Mt. Lion and Mavs all have this.
 
Just to wrap up this thread, I have upgraded to 10.9.1 and created a bootable USB installer on a flash drive and a bootable full USB clone on an external HD. My final question: is there a need for a recover HD partition?

Thanks everyone for the help!
 
Just to wrap up this thread, I have upgraded to 10.9.1 and created a bootable USB installer on a flash drive and a bootable full USB clone on an external HD. My final question: is there a need for a recover HD partition?

Thanks everyone for the help!

Yes, you should leave it on there. Some of the OS X services like Find my Mac and Filevault encryption require the recovery partition. It is also useful as a troubleshooting tool. It only uses 650MB, so does not take that much space.
 
I'd be more inclined to make the bootable USB BEFORE installing it.

OS X installers delete themselves if you install from the app.

Yup and then you can just download them again after the install is complete lol.
 
Yes, you should leave it on there. Some of the OS X services like Find my Mac and Filevault encryption require the recovery partition. It is also useful as a troubleshooting tool. It only uses 650MB, so does not take that much space.

I thought Recovery partition HD was created and in the system HD after upgrade. My question is do I need to make a copy of the recovery partition on a flash stick?
 
I thought Recovery partition HD was created and in the system HD after upgrade. My question is do I need to make a copy of the recovery partition on a flash stick?

Oh no I'm sorry I misunderstood. Yes, the recovery partition is created as part of the OS install and no you do not need to make a copy of it on the USB key.
 
I didn't upgrade to 10.9 when it was first available and have waited until now that 10.9.1 is available. How do I do it? Do I need to upgrade to 10.9 first then to 10.9.1? In App Store, 10.9 file is no longer available (?) How should I do it?
Any help is appreciated!

search "mavericks" in the app store. click download or install depending on what it says then just follow the steps. It'll be automatically upgraded to 10.9.1 or you can do that manually through the app store after you upgrade.
 
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