Suse 10 ships with 2.6.13-15 default.
The only distro that I've known that still ships with a 2.4 by default is Slackware.
Up until now, I've never had a problem updating kernels. I learned how to do this on Slackware--I got a 2.6 kernel (other than the one provided) to run. I ran a similar process when I had Suse 9.3 (though the process was a little easier IMO). Still no problems--everything still functioned.
Of course, as for the fried drive, it just died suddenly. The kernel upgrade had nothing to do with the drive--other than not being able to read it--if it worked.
The machine isn't even two years old--though it's an emachines desktop that my folks originally got a deal on.
I'll have to check BIOS when I log off tonight (which will be in a little bit)
My bad. I had no idea what version Suse is up to. Should have checked on it myself before I started typing away. :-) From the context, it sounded like it was an older version.
You said that you were able to get the drive mounted, but it wasn't seen by konq. Does it show up with "df"?