If the
searcher has security that lets them read the file, then it should show
up in the search. Of course it depends on the file type as to how much
searching can be done. For example with a word doc, you should be able
to search  by file name , author as well as the full text. Other doc
types that do not have a specific iFilter would generally not be full
text searchable  but you should still be able to search on file name.
When you say that the file share has been indexed, did you check the
status of the index? The indexing can run and finish only to say that it
can not access the content. If you select the file share content  source
link, you should see in the info pane a link to look at a indexing
report.Also check the event logs and see if anything was placed in
there.

Also, make sure the username that you use for crawling has rights to
read all the documents.

No, you should not have to switch anything on. What types of files are
you indexing- word, txt? What are you searching for- text within a file
or the file name?

Both really, I've checked it with file contents and file name..most
of the content  is Word documents...still no joy..the index  is happily
builing itself according to the schedules (once a day) but the
results still are not showing up in the search  pages...