S-video cable for laptop to tv

I have an S-video cable and I am trying to hook my laptop up to my tv so I can see whats on my laptop on the tv screen. Do I just need the S-video cable or do I need some type of software to make this work?

You shouldn't need any software - just the cable.

I tried hooking the cable into the tv then I went to the input channel and it would not show up on the screen? I have a lcd tv but I wouldn't think that it should make a differance what kind of tv you have. Thanks for the help you've given me so far though.