Problem in getting started with ionic on windows 7

I am trying to install ionic in my local folder. The cordova package is already installed on my computer. So I did
c:…\m> node install ionic --save
It installed in a local folder .\node_modules

But running “node ionic start todo blank” fails with “Error: Cannot find module ‘C:…\m\ionic’”

What am I missing? I have followed the tutorial to the t so far. Is the documentation missing some steps?

BTW why does the documentation assume that everybody has superuser perms?

Thanks a lot.