Is there an easy way to link a file on a page? I am currently doing this: [http://host1/mediawiki-1.5.4/index.php?title=Image:test1.doc test1.doc]
If what you mean is link to a LOCAL file, then my answer applies.
The best i've found so far after trying many different approaches is this extension: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:EdmundMielach/FileProtocolLinks
If your users are using Firefox, you may need to adjust a setting for local file links to work.
Laurent