use strict; use warnings; my $pid = open(my $fileHandler, '-|', "./test.exe" ); my $start = time; my $timeout = 2; while (<$fileHandler>) { print "$_\r"; # \r to not overrun output screen buffer last if ((time - $start) >= $timeout); } print "\nTimeout! - Time to kill pid: $pid\n" #### VinsWorldcom@C:\Users\VinsWorldcom\tmp> TimeThis test.pl TimeThis : Command Line : test.pl TimeThis : Start Time : Fri Oct 12 10:42:04 2012 56464 Timeout! - Time to kill pid: 4192 TimeThis : Command Line : test.pl TimeThis : Start Time : Fri Oct 12 10:42:04 2012 TimeThis : End Time : Fri Oct 12 10:42:06 2012 TimeThis : Elapsed Time : 00:00:01.903