How to use locate in cygwin?

In essence, you have to run updatedb first, as this builds the database that locate uses.
Simply do updatedb --localpaths=c:/ as a first shot solution.

See this blog post for a bunch of good tips, including how to setup up updatedb via cygwin cron: https://web.archive.org/web/20061114000822/www.weiqigao.com/blog/2006/08/14/ten_steps_to_higher_cygwin_productivity.html (updated link to archive.org)

Google cygwin updatedb for a relevant post if you are having trouble with paths that include spaces. I am not getting any trouble (other than permission denied) on WinXP Pro, but other platforms may require this.

To use locate you need to run updatedb first.