nvidia restricted driver loaded but not in use

My restricted driver works under the -386 kernel but not under the generic kernel.

I was running Linux kernel 2.6.22-14-386 on the following hardware:
Dell Precision 410 MT (with dual 866 MHz P-III)
256 MB RDRAM
RIVA TNT2TM-based Diamond Viper V770D AGP video card

I loaded the generic kernel from the boot menu to get SMP support, but the NVidia driver won't run under this kernel. If I go back to the -386 kernel, everything works fine again.

I would like to enable SMP support to take advantage of both processors, and enable a video driver that will allow resolutions higher than 800x600.

1. The NVidia site has a display driver for these cards under Linux Display Driver - x86, Version: 71.86.01: NVIDIA-Linux-x86-71.86.01-pkg1.run.
(see http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_x86_71.86.01.html) Should I try this? If I do not install the driver using the restricted drivers manager, are there any risks I should know about. Is there a way to get to it through the restricted drivers manager?

2. Would this be any easier if I got the -686 kernel? If so, how do I get it if it does not show up in Synaptic?