You have to do a search for a package before you install it: 
    ppm> search WriteExcel

[download]
Then install whichever item number you want. Make sure that your firewall allows the ppm traffic through.

I also have ppm builds available from a repository: 

    ppm> rep add swe http://homepage.eircom.net/~jmcnamara/perl
    Repositories:
    [1] ActiveState PPM2 Repository
    [2] ActiveState Package Repository
    [3] swe

    ppm> search WriteExcel
    Searching in Active Repositories
      1. Spreadsheet-WriteExcel [2.14] Write to a cross platform Excel
+ binary file
    ppm> install 1
    Package 1:
    ====================
    Install 'http://homepage.eircom.net/...'
    version 2.14 in ActivePerl 5.6.1.638.
    ====================
    Downloaded 169242 bytes.

    ...

[download]

However, I'd recomend the ActivePerl 5.8.7 build (the documentation is nicer and the Unicode support is better than 5.6 releases).

--
John.

In reply to Re^3: Activestate 5.6.1.638 - Module instalation freezing with Spreadsheet::WriteExcel and others by jmcnamara
in thread Activestate 5.6.1.638 - Module instalation freezing with Spreadsheet::WriteExcel and others by Andre_br

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