defaults / homedir / loal variable / option file etc

[Neil Phillips]

Hi,

gpg -version = 2.0.14

So i'm looking at changing some of the defaults used by gpg.
cipher, compression that sort of thing.

i've read that i can use a command line to use a specific options file,
something like --options file
but thats a per use, not a set default behaviour.

it says i can place stuff in a file called gpg.conf that is located in my
C:\Profiles\xxx\Application Data\gnupg folder.
well there is no gpg.conf file there :(

it says --homedir can change the default location of the home directory, the
place where i should see my gpg.conf file.

it says that i can find my home directoy in the Registry under the key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GNU\GnuPG using the name "HomeDir"
well there is no GnuPG folder there :(

apparently i could set a user-level environment variable, GNUPGHOME.
no such variable exists :(

my questions are:
1. can i use a gpg.conf file to set some default behaviours for gpg?
2. where should the gpg.conf file be stored.
3. do i need a registry entry at all?

i do have an entry in the path variable which is allowing me to use gpg.
i have created a key for myself and can use that from anywhere in my file system
with gpg to generate an encrypted file without any error messages.

i'm assuming that my key does not contain settings for which cipher to use or
which compression method or which hash method to use and that those settings are
picked during the actual encryption of my file?

Neil