Missing SD card files on S7

[Jo N]

Hi all, hoping someone can shed some light on my problem.
I noticed yesterday that all images taken between 8/6/17 up to 13:37 yesterday 18/6/17 have mysteriously disappeared from my SD card memory. These have also not been backed up to Google Photos - any photos and videos taken automatically save to SD on my phone.
Some have disappeared completely. Some I can see thumbnails of in my phone gallery, but upon opening they are simply grey screens with ! in the centre.
I've connected my phone to my PC and cannot see the majority of the missing files, apart from the ones I took yesterday before 13:37 (these are showing as 0 bytes in size). I'm now backing up everything present on my SD card before pursuing any potential fixes.
I have been advised it may be that my SD card has corrupted. Which I would accept if it wasn't obvious that it has just decided to forget photos from a 10 day period. I took some photos yesterday morning which are the ones I can see thumbnails of but cannot view, and then took some videos and pics onwards of 13:37 yesterday which are perfectly accessible and backed up to Google Photos.
I've tried searching '.nomedia' whilst connecting to PC.
I've been recommended to try and reset the cache partition - but not sure if this would only be useful in resolving a phone memory issue rather than an external SD card issue.
Do I contact the SD card manufacturer? Can I potentially restore the SD card to an earlier point to retrieve the photos?
Please help! While it's only 10 days worth of photos (and I know it could be worse) I've packed in a lot in this time and would be so happy to get them back. I uploaded some to Facebook which is on saving grace but obviously did not upload all of them.
Thank you in advance fellow Androiders 😊👍
Additional info: phone model is the SM-G930F. Currently running Android version 7.0.

 

[seVer]

There isn't a way to restore a SD card to a previous anything. I suggest putting the card directly into your PC via a USB adapter to see if the files are accessible. If not, those files for whatever reason got corrupted. Your best bet at that point would be to backup/save everything you can and format the card... and hope it doesn't happen again. Google Photos is your friend (and helped me retrieve a very emotional picture I thought I'd lost).

 

[mikedt]

Is it a new SD, where did you buy it? Suggest you check its integrity with SD Insight, ensure you haven't got a fake or duff. Files mysteriously going missing is a common symptom of a counterfeit SD.

 

[Hadron]

If you think that photos might have been accidentally erased then you could stick the card in a card reader and run some file recovery software (Recuva is often recommended if you are a Windows user, and is free).

I was going to add, but Mike got in while I was typing this, that a corrupt or fake card remains a possibility. Corruption could conceivably affect part of the card, though the pictures being stored in such a contiguous manner would be odd. Fake cards are cards that have been doctored so they report their capacity as being larger than it is (and when you reach the real capacity of the card data start being corrupted). I would second seVer's advice to back up everything that's currently on the card - whether you then try to re-use (after checking it really is what it says, e.g. using h2testw) or just decide it's not trustworthy and buy another is up to you, but if you buy another be very careful where you buy it from (a "really good deal" with SD cards is very often a very bad deal due to the number of fakes in circulation).

 

[Jo N]

Hi all - thanks for the responses.
I've taken the SD card out pending receipt of an adapter to read it on the PC. I do use Google Photos, but for some reason or another these particular photos did not back up, despite some of them being on there for a few days before disappearing.
It is not a new SD - I bought it from Tesco last August and it's a 32GB - I'd be very surprised if a large company like them were selling counterfeit goods.
I'm very certain they haven't been accidentally erased, as 60 at least have gone and all from within a set time period. I have backed up everything on the SD card now and have (on the advice of SanDisk) downloaded a free trial of a software called RescuePro. I'll try it when I get an adapter and update here.
Thanks again guys!

 

[Hadron]

Good luck.

I agree Tesco wouldn't knowingly be selling a counterfeit card. I think it's unlikely one would get into their supply chains, but if we remember the horse meat (and worse) of a few years ago I'd not 100% rule out anything. Hopefully you will be able to recover at least some of them - it really will depend on what the cause is.