(OT) Any idea why GPG key-generation might "never finish" on Win7?

[sundialsvc4]

This is not a Perl question, but, “Maybe someone here will know ...”

When generating a new private-key with GPG on a Windows-7 box, and it is “collecting randomness” as it does, the progress-bar slows to a crawl and then stops, even for several hours, without actually finishing.   Any offhand notion why this would happen and what can be done?   Wiggling the mouse, running other programs, doing big directory searches, what have you ... it never proceeds to completion (or at least, it hasn’t yet).   Other operating-systems (and, I don’t know, maybe other Windows versions too) are not having this problem; not at all.

Links, e.g., to relevant solutions, or resolutions of your own, would be kindly appreciated.

[Anonymous Monk]

Upgrade

Keep moving the mouse

Empty %temp% before generating, speeds it up

[sundialsvc4]

/me nods ...

There seem to be several reports that Windows-7 has changed (or restricted) various sources of randomness.   Historically, GPG has never trusted the vendor-supplied random data source, at least “of Windows.”

Many thanks.   Closed.