If you're using ActivePerl (available from www.activestate.com for free) you can use the 'ppm' command to install perl modules. This is usually quite a bit less painful than using CPAN.pm because you don't need a working make utility (or a compiler for some modules with XS). Some modules are not available through ppm or are outdated, but the vast majority are well maintained and working. ppm will also do the work of searching and downloading the modules you want, similar to CPAN.pm.

You can invoke ppm with:

"C:\Program Files\xampp\perl\bin\ppm.bat"

Once you get to the ppm> prompt, you can enter 'help' for online help.

Some common ppm commands are:

search Module::Name (Find a module)

install Module::Name (Install a module)

uninstall Module::Name (Uninstall a module)

You can also avoid the ppm shell by entering commands after the ppm argument, such as:

"C:\Program Files\xampp\perl\bin\ppm.bat" install Module::Name

As suggested in a previous post, adding the Perl bin directory to your PATH environment variable will also make the process of invoking ppm significantly less annoying as well.

Good Luck,

m.att