I can't replicate your problem 
>c:\progs\perl588\bin\perl -e"system 'dir'"
 Volume in drive C is TRIBBLE05a
 Volume Serial Number is 28AB-0E8B

 Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\ikegami\test

2008/05/15  11:23 AM    <DIR>          .
2008/05/15  11:23 AM    <DIR>          ..
2008/05/15  11:23 AM                 7 file
               1 File(s)              7 bytes
               2 Dir(s)   4,698,382,336 bytes free

>c:\progs\perl588\bin\perl -e"system 'type file'"
test

>c:\progs\perl5100\bin\perl -e"system 'dir'"
 Volume in drive C is TRIBBLE05a
 Volume Serial Number is 28AB-0E8B

 Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\ikegami\test

2008/05/15  11:23 AM    <DIR>          .
2008/05/15  11:23 AM    <DIR>          ..
2008/05/15  11:23 AM                 7 file
               1 File(s)              7 bytes
               2 Dir(s)   4,698,382,336 bytes free

>c:\progs\perl5100\bin\perl -e"system 'type file'"
test

[download]
This is perl, v5.8.8 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread
Binary build 817 [257965] provided by ActiveState http://www.ActiveSta
+te.com

This is perl, v5.10.0 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread
Binary build 1001 [283495] provided by ActiveState http://www.ActiveSt
+ate.com

[download]

Update: I tried your program too. Worked fine. By the way, cmd is used for both type and dir even if you don't specify it explicitly since they're cmd builtins, not executables.

In reply to Re: Windoze oddity? by ikegami
in thread Windoze oddity? by rovf

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