"should work", except that "c:\a\b\c\d" gets interpolated by perl as "c:" followed by ASCII "bell" ("\a"=0x07), backspace ("\b"=0x08), "ctl-\" ("\c\"=0x1c) and "d".

The File::Path module is the better solution, really, because it eliminates all the anxiety about backslashes and all the bizarre escaping needed to get them right, along with freeing you from OS-dependent peculiarities.