Basically this is a three step process:

1. ASSOC .pl=PerlScript
2. FTYPE PerlScript=perl.exe "%1" %*₁
3. set₂ PATHEXT=.pl;%PATHEXT%

1. The double quotes around the '%1' allow there to be spaces in the path to your script. SEE http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/activeperl/1229724

2. The permanent solution would be to right-click on 'My Computer' and select the 'Environment' tab. A change to 'PATHEXT' there will stick!

Edit by tye

You shouldn't have to do this anymore with Perl for Windows, as it automatically updates the Registry, so as long as you name your files with an appropriate extension - .pl or maybe .cgi then Windows should automatically detect these as Perl scripts and just treat your shebang line as a comment.

However, make sure that you uncomment the following line in your httpd.conf file to ensure that Apache looks up the correct location within the Windows Registry rather than refering to the shebang line.

ScriptInterpreterSource registry
[download]

You can use pl2bat.

DESCRIPTION
    This utility converts a perl script into a batch file that can be
    executed on DOS-like operating systems. This is intended to allow you
    use a Perl script like regular programs and batch files where you jus
    enter the name of the script probably minus the extension plus any
    command-line arguments and the script is found in your PATH and run.