How do I use the subprocess module with mswindows?

[Darren Dale]

I'm a developer on the matplotlib project, and I am having trouble with the 
subprocess module on windows (Python 2.4.2 on winXP). No trouble to report 
with linux. I need to use _subprocess instead of pywin32, but my trouble 
exists with either option:

import subprocess
process = subprocess.Popen(['dir'], stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
                stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
stat = process.wait()
print process.stdout.read()
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Documents and Settings\Darren\Desktop\subprocess_test.py", 
line 3, in ?
    process = subprocess.Popen(['dir'], stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, 
stdout=subprocess.PIPE)#, stdout=PIPE)
  File "C:\Python24\lib\subprocess.py", line 533, in __init__
    (p2cread, p2cwrite,
  File "C:\Python24\lib\subprocess.py", line 593, in _get_handles
    p2cread = self._make_inheritable(p2cread)
  File "C:\Python24\lib\subprocess.py", line 634, in _make_inheritable
    DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS)
TypeError: an integer is required
----------------------------------------------------------------------

If I change my script a bit, I get a different error:

import subprocess
process = subprocess.Popen(['dir'])
stat = process.wait()
print process.stdout.read()
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Documents and Settings\Darren\Desktop\subprocess_test.py", 
line 3, in ?
    process = subprocess.Popen(['dir'])#, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, 
stdout=subprocess.PIPE)#, stdout=PIPE)
  File "C:\Python24\lib\subprocess.py", line 542, in __init__
    errread, errwrite)
  File "C:\Python24\lib\subprocess.py", line 706, in _execute_child
    startupinfo)
WindowsError: [Errno 2] The system cannot find the file specified
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?

Thanks,
Darren