You can use Win32API::File (which should be included with most versions of Perl) to control this. See the module's documentation on SetErrorMode. Since the API is rather broken (Microsoft's fault), here is a sample usage:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Win32API::File qw(:ALL);
{
    my $mode= SetErrorMode( 0 );
    $mode |= SEM_FAILCRITICALERRORS;
    SetErrorMode( $mode );
}
opendir( DIR, "a:/" )
   or  die "Can't read directory from a:/; $!\n";
my @files= readdir(DIR);
closedir(DIR);
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Note that this example uses opendir rather than reading the output of "dir /od a:" which can often be a better idea.

        - tye (but my friends call me "Tye")