Execute an external command?

For some reason when using system_ redirects seem to not work (on Windows, at least).

If, for example, you do the following on a command line the output is sent to a file:

echo > test.txt

But if in Max you do this:

system_("echo > test.txt")

the output just goes to the screen.

Any ideas? This has me stumped and I'm relying on being able to parse the output from an external command. :(

According to all the docs I can find on the net, redirects should work with the system() call.

Cheers

Muttley