Importing a list of files in a subdirectory into an array

I am working on a program which requires me to, at multiple points, import the contents of a subdirectory of my C++ Project, into a vector<string>. Assuming the project directory is called root\ and the directory I want to scan is root\userFiles. This folder only contains additional files and no further subfolders.

However the trick is I am restricted, I cannot use any of the boost, dirent.h header files. Just the basic ones.

One solution I was able to come up with was the use of the command system( "dir /b * > userFiles/fileList.txt" ); and then filter the results in by reading that file and importing it into the vector.

My issue is how do I "cd" to that folder, run that command while still in that folder, and then exit back to the root folder..

I have tried using the system("chdir userFiles/")command but I am still getting all the files in the root folder.

Any help would be appreciated.