you can recompile a kernel and not over-write the old one... simply recompile (and optionally save settings to a different file), then copy the kernel image somewhere (like /boot/), then add it as a boot option in lilo. just make sure that your old kernel entry in lilo remains the default. for more info, read the lilo HOWTO:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/doc...ngle/LILO.html
also, did you try another floppy, in case it's bad?
