Hey, it's scary the first time (& the second!), but I just followed this guide:
http://networking.ringofsaturn.com/U...nux-kernel.php
and went step-by-step. You can always boot to your old kernel if you mess up.
It's fun, and gives you an appreciation of just how wonderfully complex linux is.
Be warned, compiling my 2.4.21-0.13Custom kernel took
hours on my Pentium III at 1GHz.
Lots of interesting messages fly past the terminal though. And my new (old now) kernel is
still working!
Just get started!