Linux Apache server "<a href=file" question

I've never done any html coding on a linux platform, but a little with
Windows. I'm trying to put together a homepage for my intranet that my
kids can use. Server is Mandrake 9.2. The other machines are either
WinXP Pro or Win2K Pro.

I want to be able to load a file directory of my public share in an html
page. I can see the directory from any machine with
"file://adamsmdk/mnt/nt3/shared" in a browser address field from any
machine on the LAN (IE 6 or Netscape 7.1). But when I code this into an
html page:

<a href="file://adamsmdk/mnt/nt3/shared"><img
src="/icons/hrddrv.gif" name="Graphic2" align="left" width="32"
height="32" border="0">Access local file stores.</a>

I get nothing. The browser doesn't respond at all. I've diddled with
the tag trying everything I can think of from more slashes ("///") to
different permutations of the pathname.

Can anybody tell me where I'm going wrong here?

Thanks.

--
Mark E. Adams

Random Musing:
What's this stuff about people being "released on their own recognizance"?
Aren't we all out on our own recognizance?