I left the else clause off in an attempt to make the code more straightforward. If the file doesn't exist, the code doesn't run, and I don't get the error. I modified the sub calls to be: 
my @ads = getAdNums();
collectAds(@ads);

[download]
I also upgraded to the latest Active State version: 
N:\>perl -v

This is perl, v5.10.0 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread
(with 5 registered patches, see perl -V for more detail)

Copyright 1987-2007, Larry Wall

Binary build 1003 285500 provided by ActiveState http://www.ActiveState.com
Built May 13 2008 16:52:49
Still getting complaints about Unreferenced Scalar: 
 Attempt to free unreferenced scalar: SV 0x1ab2e84, Perl interpreter: 0x2243f4 at C:\p2exe\word2txt\debug_word2txt.pl line 28.

Still hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

In reply to Re^2: Unreferenced scalar? by HamNRye
in thread Unreferenced scalar? by HamNRye

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