Am I right to hear that you are installing Strawberry Perl because you could not find some *.ppms? Have you looked in other "repositories" besides ActiveState's?

This is the only repository searched by default. You can add others by "ppm"->"Edit"->"Preferences"->"Repositories", and choosing additional repositories from the "Add Repository"->"Suggested" drop-down box.

You can also simply enter the URL for others you may find that are not yet "suggested".