"/sdcard/Sounds" folder appears empty in Windows 7 for Samsung Galaxy S3 For some reason, the folder that once allowed me to access all my recordings using the default Sound Recorder app appears empty in windows even though the files are still there according to ES File Explorer. My phone is not rooted.
(Similarly, some files in my Downloads folder are not visible from Windows.)
I've also begun having an issue where deleting folders in the &quot;Music&quot; directory gives an error &quot;cannot delete _____ the storage is write-protected.&quot;, but I don't know if this is related. I really need these recordings without having to &quot;share&quot; every single one of them individually in ES File Explorer.
What is going on?
Being aware it is not a full-fledged solution but rather a workaround (it's still unclear what's causing the underlying issue), this answer sums up what we figured being a work-around at least:
As the files/directories don't show up the usual way via &quot;sharing the SDCard&quot;, they can still be accessed by other means. One example is using ADB: using adb pull files can be transferred from the device to the computer, and with adb push in the other direction. Examples:

adb pull /sdcard/Sounds/ E:\audio\phone would take the entire folder /sdcard/Sounds and save it as E:\audio\phone on the computer
adb push E:\audio\phone /sdcard/Sounds/ for the opposite

The culprit: types of &quot;source&quot; and &quot;target&quot; must match. If &quot;source&quot; is a file, &quot;target&quot; must be a file as well: adb pull /sdcard/Sounds/some.mp3 E:\audio\phone would fail as the source is a file and the target a directory.
Other draw-backs can be worked around as well: if you prefer a graphical solution over tinkering with the command line, there are several good GUIs available, e.g.

QtADB
Droid Explorer (by our member Ryan Conrad)

And several more. As a side-effect of installing ADB, you've got a powerful tool ready which will certainly help you with many other things!
For getting ADB to work without installing the full SDK, please refer to Is there a minimal installation of ADB? More ADB related information can be found via our adb tag and its tag-wiki.
Alternatives include several &quot;WiFi file managers&quot;, which are too many to be listed here. So if you rather want a &quot;simple app installed&quot; on your Android device, and then do everything with your browser, you might wish to take a look at the following lists:

Manage your Android Device from your Computer
FTP Server
Various File Servers