I followed shilo's guide to installing a new kernel, but with a 2.6.17.1 kernel in stead of a 2.6.5 kernel. But the guide works for all kernels if you replace the kernel number.

I did everything correctly, or so it seemed until I rebooted. I reboot, and select Slackware, the selection with the 2.6 kernel, and then it loads for a second, and the screen is black for a while. I end up having to take out the battery from the hp dv5000t laptop to turn it off.

Any ideas?

If this is your first kernel, it may be a good idea to boot up the 2.4.33.3 kernel that came with Slackware 11.0 and find a more comprehensive how to. There are possibly several reasons for your particular situation.

The black screen is most likely the result of not compiling the required video support.
If you have to remove the battery to stop the computer the system has probably frozen at a kernel panic, which you cannot see.
Search LQ for how to's
Gentoo how to's are usually very comprehensive.
Or just install the 2.6.17.13 kernel on disk2 /extras.

User Name.,

Sounds like you don't have support for your video framebuffer
compiled into your kernel.

Boot the default kernel, then issue and compare between it and
your 2.6.17.1 kernel:
cat /usr/src/linux-2.4.33.3/.config | grep -i fb
and
lsmod
and look at which module is loading relevant to the framebuffer.

Then you can run "make xconfig" on your new kernel source and
change the framebuffer accordingly. I think for 2.6.17.1 these
options will server you well:

Kwan Lowe has a good Kernel Rebuild Guide, but it doesn't cover all
the options for your kernel. A good way to start for a Slackware
kernel is to take one of the default kernel configuration files and
begin with it.

That's correct, I do mean graphics/video frame buffer support. The Kwan Lowe guide is great, thanks.