making kernel changes permanent for wireless card

[freq-]

hi,

been a linux user for bit now but i'm a noob as far as all this configuration stuff goes. i have been working on getting my linksys wpc11 v4 wireless card working with BT3 running from a 2G usb flash drive for awhile now.

i've pretty much figured that what i need to do is compile new drivers for it. after messing around for a few days with outdated drivers, i found new ones here:
rtl-wifi.sourceforge.net/wiki/Main_Page

since BT uses a kernel older than 2.6.22 i need the mac80211 framework installed via a patch from intel:
ntellinuxwireless.org/?p=mac80211&n=HOWTO-mac80211

i've have successfully followed almost all the steps on that page, but the last one is:
You will then need to reboot into the new kernel (vs. just loading the new 80211 modules)

since i'm running a BT live from a flash drive, i will loose all my changes when i reboot. can i make the kernel changes permanent? if so, how?
or am i headed on the wrong direction entirely to get this card working?

thanks for any insight you can offer!

[freq-]

i just saw this:
forums.remote-exploit.org/showthread.php?t=15994&highlight=kernel+compile

back to square one