$XML::Simple::PREFERRED_PARSER = 'XML::Parser';
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$XML::Simple::PREFERRED_PARSER = 'XML::LibXML::SAX';
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That output certainly looks more like what I want, even though I never said my code contained:

$XML::Simple::PREFERRED_PARSER = 'XML::Parser';
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$XML::Simple::PREFERRED_PARSER = 'XML::LibXML::SAX';
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Can't locate object method "new" via package "XML::SAX" at C:/Perl/sit
+e/lib/XML/
SAX/ParserFactory.pm line 41, <DATA> line 13.
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But thanks, that does give me an alternative that I can do more research on.   And as I said, the XML is really basic (and reasonably short), so I'm quite certain speed won't be an issue.

Update:  On a hunch I tried "ppm install XML::LibXML::SAX", and that got me past the "Cannot locate object" error above.  Now I'm getting a much nicer error message:

Error while parsing XML:
Opening and ending tag mismatch: ERROR line 8 and ROOT
Premature end of data in tag ERROR line 8
Premature end of data in tag ROOT line 3 at C:/Perl/site/lib/XML/LibXM
+L/SAX.pm l
ine 64
 at C:/Perl/lib/XML/Simple.pm line 370
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So ++thanks again; it appears to fit my needs nicely.