Regarding the method of first launching the "Install OS X El Capitan" for that I can first use Disk Utility, if I launch it from the Applications folder on the clone, it will be gone after the process completes....
I just launched Install OS X El Capitan-10.11.3.app from /Apps and from a copy on another volume, and I couldn't find any way to get to Disk Utility; I thought you had to be booted into the installer to do that. (Does the installer actually disappear from /Apps if all you do is use DU, or only after you've done a complete installation?)
Yes, you are correct (my snafu!). So, the process would be 1) after booting via the SD backup/clone, run Disk Utility from there to Erase, Format, and if necessary, partition the disk (typically the internal HD/SSD), 2) launch the file "Install OS X El Capitan" while still on the SD backup/clone and perform a "virgin" installation of OS 10.11.4 onto the just erased and formatted internal HD/SSD, 3) restart the Mac from that internal HD/SDD, and 4) use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy all the needed stuff from the SD backup/clone.
Again, note that via this process, the Recovery HD partition gets created.
I just did steps 1 through 3 from the SD backup/clone I made on Friday onto a Flash Drive, and it worked fine. (I did not do step 4, as 1) I was just running a test, and 2) the Flash Drive did not have enough room for the Migration step). But, the important thing is that it worked.
Now, doing a recovery/restore directly from ab SD backup/clone works well, but the Recovery HD partition does not get created. But again, as long as one has the "Install OS X El Capitan" file around, one can download and run the nifty software Recovery Partition Creator, available from here:
http://musings.silvertooth.us/2014/07/recovery-partition-creator-3-8/This article talks about this gem in well-deserved words:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2602951/...-any-drive.html
