How do I recompile my kernel?

To begin with, there's a good HOWTO for this, the Kernel-HOWTO. It should also be in the /usr/doc/HOWTO directory, and goes into far more detail than this page will.

A *very* short summary:

• get the kernel tarball from somewhere
• unpack the tarball, and fix up a kernel with the proper command(s):

  cd /usr/src/linux
  tar -x{z,j}f /path/to/linux-2.4.18.tar.{gz,bz2}
  cd linux
  make {,menu,x}config
  make dep && make clean && make bzImage && make modules && make modules_install
  cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.18
  cp System.map /boot/System.map.2418
  cd /
  ln -s /boot/vmlinux-2.4.18 vmlinuz
  cd boot
  rm System.map
  ln -s System.map.2418 System.map
  lilo (assuming /vmlinuz is already in there, if not, make sure you configure lilo properly)
  /sbin/shutdown -r now
  

The above works for me, sane people get a binary package for the kernel of their choice for the distribution of their choice, debianites install kernel-package (apt-get install kernel-package) and use

make-kpkg

for their kernel compiles.

Whatever works, but do make sure you read that HOWTO!