Find out why it doesn't work, for example:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

my @args = ("dir", "c:\\"); # replace this with your command and the a
+rgument
system(@args) == 0 or die "system @args failed: $?"
[download]

See system for more information. If you're new the following may be helpful:

• perlintro
• http://learn.perl.org
• http://perldoc.perl.org
• The tutorials section of this site, including PerlMonks for the Absolute Beginner