1. Get a book on Perl. I have one from Sybase, but believe that O'Reily has the best one... And it is much easier to absorb information while reading it from the book comparing to computer screen (at least, that's how it is for me and quite a few people I know)

2. I believe you already installed ActivePerl on your XP box... Get a nice editor, preferably free, with syntax coloring etc... whatever you will be comfortable working with. Try a few at first, then choose... For example, I liked PSPad

3. Try scripting, but choose good purposes for them. I mean, work on something that's at least somewhat important for you so that a working script will boost your self-confidence and make you feel you've accomplished something.

4. As you progress on the Perl path, try to make your code {smaller|more readable|obfuscated} in several different ways - it's a great learning way and fun too...

5. Keep visiting here as often as you can - that's the place for the most of good advices and information!

Good luck!