Verify current kernel settings before customizing?

[bigrobot]

Now running Knoppix 3.7, kernel 2.4.27.

I need to make a couple of simple modifications to the kernel but before doing so I want to somehow verify the current settings before downloading the source and running make menufig to make the changes. Everything is working great, and I want to keep it that way but need to make slight mod to get some hardware working properly.

I'm new to this, so please be detailed in your response.