WinXP problem with large files was: Re: Decrypt problem with large file

[Ryan Malayter]

> Snoken wrote:
> > is the old problem with files greater than 4 GB solved? How large
> > files can gpg handle on WindowsXP? On other systems?

My recollection is that the file size issue was fixed years ago, as it
was a limitation in the MinGW layer or something that was remedied. I
never followed up much, though, becuase GnuPG's encryption was very
slow compared with alternatives (7-zip). When I used GnuPG, encryption
was CPU-bound, even with compression turned off. When I use 7-zip,
encryption of our 500 GB backup files is disk-bound.

I also recall that Werner stated the AES code in GnuPG wouldn't be
optimized for a number of reasons, becasue of security (timing
attacks), and also a desire to keep GnuPG architecture-agnostinc. The
faster AES code used by 7-zip pretty much assumes a 32-bit x86
processor is the target. It's C, not assembler, but the data alignment
in 7-zip's code is very architecture specific.

Regards,
Ryan