Default Kernel .config file

[Harrington, Todd]

Hello,

I am installing RHEL4 ES on a "client" computer. I do a fresh load to a local hard drive on the "client" with the goal of eventually making this node a "diskless client" that will boot via PXE.. 
I use the Netboot GUI on my Linux "server" (another machine) that comes with RedHat and it pulls the image and kernel from my hard drive on my "client" and I can now PXE boot my client from the server. I am actually now booting the default kernel that was installed on the hard drive of my "client". Life is good. 

My problem is that I want to reconfigure the kernel on my client and when I do, the default .config files (in the "configs" directory or the Config-xxx file in the /boot directory) do not contain the same settings as are in my original kernel and my new kernel does not boot across the network. I have been pulling my hair out trying to get my new kernel to boot. How can I get the default .config settings for the kernel that was initially installed to my local hard drive? I read about "extract_ikconfig" and /proc/config that allow you to pull the .config info from a kernel but you have to have that support in the kernel in the first place. It does not appear the initial RedHat install included this in the kernel.

Please help.

Regards,
Todd