after having done some research, apparently, the system volume information folder is also used for system restore points. I think it can easily be confused with a disk backup, since both are long strings of alphanumerics. the only way I was able to see the content was using treesize, which grants you privileges to open the folder, but then you can't close it back up again. this folder, more than others, seems very stingy in that it won't allow any tampering (i.e. no copying/cutting and no deleting). this is my thinking as to why the sizes are different. when you do a ctril + A over all content, it reads that folder and the windows imaging folders as 0KBs. however, copying and pasting the windows imaging folder, the true size is displayed. you can't do this with the system volume information folder. 0KBs = 0KBs then. I'm a little concerned that something isn't being read. :-/
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btw, why is there a restore point on an external hdd?