P:\test>perl -wle"system(1,'notepad')==-1 && print qq[failed $_ process with: $!] for 1..65" failed 65 process with: Resource temporarily unavailable #### case P_NOWAIT: /* asynch + remember result */ if (w32_num_children >= MAXIMUM_WAIT_OBJECTS) { errno = EAGAIN; ret = -1; goto RETVAL; } ... if (mode == P_NOWAIT) { /* asynchronous spawn -- store handle, return PID */ ret = (int)ProcessInformation.dwProcessId; if (IsWin95() && ret < 0) ret = -ret; w32_child_handles[w32_num_children] = ProcessInformation.hProcess; w32_child_pids[w32_num_children] = (DWORD)ret; ++w32_num_children; }