#!/usr/bin/perl -l 
my $yo = 'C:/as/d/f/e/r/g/a/d/f/g/';
use File::Spec;
print for File::Spec->splitpath($yo);
warn $yo;
print for File::Spec->splitdir($yo);
die $yo;
__END__
C:
/as/d/f/e/r/g/a/d/f/g/

C:/as/d/f/e/r/g/a/d/f/g/ at - line 5.
C:
as
d
f
e
r
g
a
d
f
g

C:/as/d/f/e/r/g/a/d/f/g/ at - line 7.
[download]

Now onto the regex. Pay special attention to the ".+" explanation, and then choose a different quantifier(*?) add a modifier (namely "?").

use YAPE::Regex::Explain;
die YAPE::Regex::Explain->new(qr/^(\w):\\(.+)\\?/)->explain;
__END__
The regular expression:

(?-imsx:^(\w):\\(.+)\\?)

matches as follows:

NODE                     EXPLANATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(?-imsx:                 group, but do not capture (case-sensitive)
                         (with ^ and $ matching normally) (with . not
                         matching \n) (matching whitespace and #
                         normally):
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  ^                        the beginning of the string
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  (                        group and capture to \1:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
    \w                       word characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  )                        end of \1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  :                        ':'
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \\                       '\'
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  (                        group and capture to \2:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
    .+                       any character except \n (1 or more times
                             (matching the most amount possible))
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  )                        end of \2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \\?                      '\' (optional (matching the most amount
                           possible))
----------------------------------------------------------------------
)                        end of grouping
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[download]

update: yuckyish (File::Spec rocks)

perl -le"print for split m{[:\\/]+}, shift, 3" C:\y\o\d\a
C
y
o\d\a
[download]

MJD says "you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo!"

I run a Win32 PPM repository for perl 5.6.x and 5.8.x -- I take requests (README).

** The third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.