my $pid=open(READ,"\\\\.\\c:");

While i'm not sure what you are trying to do here, you seem to be opening a file named \.\c: and storing the status code of the open call in $pid

If you are trying to read a directory named C:/, use something like: 

opendir DIR,"C:/" or die "Cannot read from dir C:/ $!";
for (readdir(DIR)) {
  # do something...
}
closedir DIR;

[download]
There are some differences in file (and directory) naming between cygwin perl and activestate perl on windows, but I think (though I cannot test it right now) that C:/ should work for both. You might want to experiment with the filename and/or read the docs regarding that subject.

If I misinterpreted your intentions, please explain what you are trying to achieve here. 

-- 
Joost       downtime n. The period during which a system
            is error-free and immune from user input.

[download]

In reply to Re: Re: cygwin by Joost
in thread Standalone binary with cygwin perl (was: cygwin) by Anonymous Monk

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.