Cut without paste should not have deleted the file. Something else must have deleted it. All the cut does is load a pointer to the file into memory. Until the Paste is completed successfully, the original file stays where it is - intact. There are just to many things that can go wrong between cut and paste to start deleting files and loading them into memory before thaey are saved elsewhere.
Cut and Paste is the same as Copy and Paste with the exception that once the paste is completed, the original file is deleted.
Imagine the chaos if you were to cut a file and then try and paste into a non-writable folder or a folder that isn't big enough to take the file, or as often happens, paste it into a folder with a file of the same name that is write protected. If the file was loaded into memory it would mean writing the file back to the folder it came from which obviously doesn't happen.
Try cutting and pasting a large file from a folder to another on the same drive. It happens very fast because in that instance all that is happening is that the directory entries are being changed. It is certainly not loading the file into memory.
If the paste fails the original will remain intact. Try cutting a file and then refreshing Windows Explorer. The file is still there, which is the correct way to cancel a cut. Or cutting a file and pasting it back into the same folder. It doesn't work because you can't have two files in the same folder with the same name because the original is still there.
Stuart
