This article has now been superseded by our Bootable Yosemite USB Guide
There are many ways that you can create a bootable Mavericks USB Drive but this seems to me the far easiest way to do so. In this article I will assume that you already have a reasonable grasp of the OSX system and cut out the lengthy text:
1. Download Mavericks
Mavericks can be downloaded directly from Apple here (make sure you leave the file in the default download location)
2. Prepare a USB Flash Drive (Must be 8Gb or larger)
- Plug the USB Drive in to your Mac and open “Disk Utility” (found under applications / utilities in finder)
- Select the USB Drive
- Select the Erase tab
- Ensure that the format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
IMPORTANT – Leave the name as “Untitled”. If you change this the next step won’t work
3. Create the Bootable Mavericks USB Drive
Open up Terminal (found in applications)
Type this in:
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/Untitled –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app –nointeraction
Wait for the process to complete. Done.
4. Boot from the Mavericks USB Drive
Restart your computer and hold down “Option”. You can now select the USB Drive you just created.
This article has now been superseded by our Bootable Yosemite USB Guide