2.6 to 2.4 kernel

My old computer (9 years old) doesn't seem to like the 2 6 kernel (things run s l oooooooo w l y with it and the icewm process monitor usually shows high activity) and while discussing this with some local linux geeks they suggested putting the 2 4 kernel in because the 2 6 kernel isn't meant for older hardware. I searched the net for how to do this and after asking the geeks about a page I had found the suggested asking you guys about how I should go about doing this.

I have downloaded the 2.4.33 and 2.4.34 and am awaiting instructions.
Also, I ran synaptic and got the 2.4.27 kernel (I think it was 27) packages that were there and that seemed to speed things up a bit but things are still slower than when I had the pre 2 6 mepis. Does this mean it is as good as it gets for me?

information:
amd k6 processor
top - 18:03:30 up  1:00,  3 users,  load average: 0.07, 0.41, 0.55
Tasks: 100 total,   1 running,  99 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
Cpu(s): 23.9% us,  7.5% sy,  0.0% ni, 63.3% id,  0.6% wa,  4.4% hi,  0.3% si
Mem:    385264k total,   292352k used,    92912k free,    14428k buffers
Swap:  1025000k total,        0k used,  1025000k free,   159768k cached

bmike1@2[~]$ lsusb
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 046d:08b0 Logitech, Inc. QuickCam 3000 Pro [pwc]
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 045e:003c Microsoft Corp. SideWinder Joystick
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 058f:6366 Alcor Micro Corp.
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0457:0151 Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. Super Flash
1GB Flash Drive
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05e3:0606 Genesys Logic, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
bmike1@2[~]$    lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C598 [Apollo MVP3] (rev
04)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C598/694x [Apollo
MVP3/Pro133x AGP]
0000:00:07.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586/A/B PCI-to-ISA
[Apollo VP] (rev 47)
0000:00:07.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc.
VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
0000:00:07.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1
Controller (rev 02)
0000:00:07.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586B ACPI (rev 10)
0000:00:08.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1
Controller (rev 61)
0000:00:08.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1
Controller (rev 61)
0000:00:08.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 63)
0000:00:09.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy LS
0000:00:0a.0 Serial controller: 3Com Corp, Modem Division 56K FaxModem Model
5610 (rev 01)
0000:00:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro
100] (rev 05)
0000:00:0c.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AHA-2940U/UW/D / AIC-7881U
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV10 [GeForce 256
SDR] (rev 10)
bmike1@2[~]$