Re^6: The CPANPLUS cache had to be cleared

OK, I solved it. What needed to be done was, to clear the CPANPLUS cache (whatever that is), by entering "x" at the cpanp prompt. Apparently cpanp keeps a cache somewhere (and I don't think it's under the
C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\.cpanplus\
tree), and that cache contains configuration parameters, including the current (=default) Perl installation top directory.

Also, after extensive googling, quite far away in a search result list, I have found this:

How can I use CPANPLUS with multiple versions of Perl?
You only need one installation of CPANPLUS for all versions of Perl. As of version 0.04, CPANPLUS keeps different directories under its home directory for each version of Perl:

    .cpanplus/
        authors/
            id/     # tarballs live here
        5.6.0/
            build/
        5.7.3/
            build/
[download]

This prevents conflicts.

(URL: http://cpanplus.sourceforge.net/faq.html#b)

So, conclusions:

Installing several Perl versions is ok and supported
CAPNPLUS supports working in a multi-perl installation environment, but you must clear the "CPANPLUS cache" when shifting from one installation to the other (or use some other alternatives listed in that URL)
CPANPLUS documentation is meager and practically non-existent. I found the URL quoted above by accident, and its parent URL is broken.

That has been an excruciating experience. I have spent days wrestling with this.

Many thanks to all PerlMonks trying to help, offering advice - Helen

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Re^7: The CPANPLUS cache had to be cleared by Anonymous Monk on May 11, 2013 at 00:24 UTC
2) .... but you must clear the "CPANPLUS cache" when shifting from one installation to the other (or use some other alternatives listed in that URL) No you don't. Unless you go out of your way to disable automatic index refreshing, refreshing indexes isn't needed, it happens automatically when necessary. 3) CPANPLUS documentation is meager and practically non-existent. I found the URL quoted above by accident, and its parent URL is broken. Not true, this conclusion isn't supported by reality. That page you found via googling is dated from 2002, 11 years ago. It is outdated and obsolete. The cpanp/CPANPLUS/File::Fetch documentation is current , complete, comprehensive. it shows (the same as cpanp help ) `x # reload CPAN indices`	[reply] [d/l]

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Re^7: The CPANPLUS cache had to be cleared
by Anonymous Monk on May 11, 2013 at 00:24 UTC

2) .... but you must clear the "CPANPLUS cache" when shifting from one installation to the other (or use some other alternatives listed in that URL)

No you don't. Unless you go out of your way to disable automatic index refreshing, refreshing indexes isn't needed, it happens automatically when necessary.

3) CPANPLUS documentation is meager and practically non-existent. I found the URL quoted above by accident, and its parent URL is broken.

Not true, this conclusion isn't supported by reality.

That page you found via googling is dated from 2002, 11 years ago. It is outdated and obsolete.

The cpanp/CPANPLUS/File::Fetch documentation is current , complete, comprehensive.

it shows (the same as cpanp help ) x # reload CPAN indices

[reply]
[d/l]