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after cut and paste a word file from pc to usb, does the file still exists on hard disk (until it is overwritten)? How is this differ from shift+delete?

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If you do a normal delete it will remain in the recycle bin location. Doing a shift delete will remove it so it doesnt appear in the recycle bin.

However even after a shift delete the file remains physically on the disk until something else overwrites it. This is the premise for data recovery. Even if you blow away the partition scheme the files are still there provided you don't overwrite them, or use a scrubbing tool to wipe the data.

EDIT: I will use NTFS as an example, which is usually what windows uses. In NTFS, all file, directory and metafile data—file name, creation date, access permissions (by the use of access control lists), and size—are stored as metadata in the Master File Table (MFT). So in my example, the file location is stored in the MFT. So /temp/file.txt when cut then pasted to /temp2/file.txt the record for that file is changed in the MFT. The actual file itself is not moved. There is a bit more to it, but thats the general gist of it.

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  • cutting and pasting out of the pc is same as deleting?
    – Sat
    Jul 16, 2015 at 3:43
  • cutting and pasting changes where the "logical file" is, physically the file doesnt actually move on the disk, only the logical location. What I mean is if you cut a file then paste it to a new location the full path changes, so instead of say /temp/file.txt it becomes /temp2/file.txt on the actual disk tho, that file did not move.
    – dakka
    Jul 16, 2015 at 3:49
  • can that file be recoverable with recovery software? system rebooted for coule of times since then
    – Sat
    Jul 16, 2015 at 3:58
  • Yes so long as the physical location for that file is not overwritten by another file. I also added more info to my first post describing how windows filesystems work NTFS spefically
    – dakka
    Jul 16, 2015 at 4:02

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