diff --git a/arch/i386/Kconfig b/arch/i386/Kconfig
index f9524933258a47601a6838b4a3768fb296b9fbce..f16a46e8849c59f0a31c24c38fa826aa962461ac 100644
--- a/arch/i386/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/i386/Kconfig
@@ -1228,6 +1228,11 @@ menuconfig INSTRUMENTATION
 	bool "Instrumentation Support"
 	depends on EXPERIMENTAL
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options related to performance measurement,
+	  debugging, and testing. This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if INSTRUMENTATION
 
diff --git a/drivers/atm/Kconfig b/drivers/atm/Kconfig
index bed9f58c2d5a78805f663a18ce58e46fbc92e72f..b554edac1ced1cde073e83d7bef273d63ad31da8 100644
--- a/drivers/atm/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/atm/Kconfig
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ menuconfig ATM_DRIVERS
 	bool "ATM drivers"
 	depends on NETDEVICES && ATM
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for Asynchronous Transfer Mode
+	  device drivers. This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if ATM_DRIVERS && NETDEVICES && ATM
 
diff --git a/drivers/auxdisplay/Kconfig b/drivers/auxdisplay/Kconfig
index de2fcce10ba526c1eb0c32c788f978e9fe1172ee..043353bd0600fb4c8d517672cab3116047a3fd50 100644
--- a/drivers/auxdisplay/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/auxdisplay/Kconfig
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@
 menuconfig AUXDISPLAY
 	depends on PARPORT
 	bool "Auxiliary Display support"
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for auxiliary display drivers.
+	  This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if AUXDISPLAY && PARPORT
 
diff --git a/drivers/block/Kconfig b/drivers/block/Kconfig
index a4a311992408f5eda8ab093bebbca107dd04faea..ef32e977d307fe9cd975232ea3e0946a56ed7d5e 100644
--- a/drivers/block/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/block/Kconfig
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ menuconfig BLK_DEV
 	bool "Block devices"
 	depends on BLOCK
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for various different block device
+	  drivers. This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled;
+	  only do this if you know what you are doing.
 
 if BLK_DEV
 
diff --git a/drivers/crypto/Kconfig b/drivers/crypto/Kconfig
index 84ebfcc1ffb45ef8b89550dd05146975753d97ad..c0fc4aeb8596071ff67f73852e8d9f475cb30ee4 100644
--- a/drivers/crypto/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/crypto/Kconfig
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 menuconfig CRYPTO_HW
 	bool "Hardware crypto devices"
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for hardware crypto devices and
+	  processors. This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if CRYPTO_HW
 
diff --git a/drivers/hid/Kconfig b/drivers/hid/Kconfig
index 3b63b0b7812206e643fb0cc73b1070bc65e84cca..19667fcc722a774337a3ee29c760c7ad8bec6c33 100644
--- a/drivers/hid/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/hid/Kconfig
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ menuconfig HID_SUPPORT
 	bool "HID Devices"
 	depends on INPUT
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for various computer-human interface
+	  device drivers. This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if HID_SUPPORT
 
diff --git a/drivers/kvm/Kconfig b/drivers/kvm/Kconfig
index 6cecc396e04064e6ca8f91ca766e02ea8842783e..7b64fd4aa2f3d4c99e6f4ffef4c3cdcb48ab9a90 100644
--- a/drivers/kvm/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/kvm/Kconfig
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ menuconfig VIRTUALIZATION
 	bool "Virtualization"
 	depends on X86
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for virtualization guest drivers.
+	  This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if VIRTUALIZATION
 
diff --git a/drivers/macintosh/Kconfig b/drivers/macintosh/Kconfig
index dbe96268866e0c04e8cb011dcee3658da99af49d..56cd8998fe4b76f35e7e47158cb0147d9f4cb159 100644
--- a/drivers/macintosh/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/macintosh/Kconfig
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@ menuconfig MACINTOSH_DRIVERS
 	bool "Macintosh device drivers"
 	depends on PPC || MAC || X86
 	default y if (PPC_PMAC || MAC)
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for devices used with Macintosh
+	  computers. This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if MACINTOSH_DRIVERS
 
diff --git a/drivers/misc/Kconfig b/drivers/misc/Kconfig
index 518d5d33546489e2d4de6fca87e5a9983ce05fb0..a26655881e6a72aa8098c3d629d8781e90b4c714 100644
--- a/drivers/misc/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/misc/Kconfig
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@
 menuconfig MISC_DEVICES
 	bool "Misc devices"
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for device drivers from various
+	  different categories. This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if MISC_DEVICES
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/Kconfig b/drivers/net/Kconfig
index 81ef81c9a5841904887b70a3d37470a624467fbf..5b9e17bf174940bbe7a12dd396811a2975e766e1 100644
--- a/drivers/net/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/net/Kconfig
@@ -1968,6 +1968,16 @@ menuconfig NETDEV_1000
 	bool "Ethernet (1000 Mbit)"
 	depends on !UML
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Ethernet (also called IEEE 802.3 or ISO 8802-2) is the most common
+	  type of Local Area Network (LAN) in universities and companies.
+
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for Gigabit Ethernet drivers.
+	  This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+	  Note that drivers supporting both 100 and 1000 MBit may be listed
+	  under "Ethernet (10 or 100MBit)" instead.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if NETDEV_1000
 
@@ -2339,6 +2349,11 @@ menuconfig NETDEV_10000
 	bool "Ethernet (10000 Mbit)"
 	depends on !UML
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  Say Y here to get to see options for 10 Gigabit Ethernet drivers.
+	  This option alone does not add any kernel code.
+
+	  If you say N, all options in this submenu will be skipped and disabled.
 
 if NETDEV_10000
 
diff --git a/drivers/usb/Kconfig b/drivers/usb/Kconfig
index 7dd73546bf43cb4541d68ad2393a07c3be5db121..63436892688c04ca070d8e4574337d2babbedc80 100644
--- a/drivers/usb/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/usb/Kconfig
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ menuconfig USB_SUPPORT
 	bool "USB support"
 	depends on HAS_IOMEM
 	default y
+	---help---
+	  This option adds core support for Universal Serial Bus (USB).
+	  You will also need drivers from the following menu to make use of it.
 
 if USB_SUPPORT