A few years ago, I was moving files from a Google Nexus 7 (32GB, Android 4.4.2, locked bootloader) to a hard drive using MTP with Windows Explorer. The Nexus 7 2012 has no USB-OTG and no MicroSD. Side note: MTP works smoother and less unreliable on Linux file managers. While moving files, Windows Explorer hung up (not responding) **again and again**; indefinitely until the USB plug was pulled. I had to pull the USB plug out dozens of times during the process. At one point, I saw that the Nexus 7 suddenly had 20 GB free, which appeared very strange. I opened the file manager and all files still were displayed. But when I opened a folder, an error said that the directory was *not found*. I hit refresh and suddenly, all files and directories except for *Android* and ~ four other folders I can't remember the name of, disappeared. The apps and their data in `/data` was there. But everything inside `/storage/emulated/0` has seemingly been wiped out randomly, within the blink of an eye. Obviously, data recovery does not work with locked bootloader. And unlocking that shitty bootloader involves, you guessed it, the full-disk wipe. It is almost as if the vendor wants us to lose data at some point. ---- # Lessons: * Unlock that [fucking](#spoiler) bootloader! [More reasons.](/p/152184) * Unlocked bootloader = liberation and data portability. * Maybe SMB could have been used for backing up the entire user storage. * If you use MTP, better copy, verify data size and delete instead of moving. ---- Side note: I later unlocked the bootloader and rooted. But then the internal storage appears as just 6 GB instead of 32 GB. Yet another random glitch.