I realise there are SATA to USB cables to allow me to connect my old HDD to my new computer via USB, but does the HDD need to be formatted or will my old files be readable?
If the old drive cam from a windows system then they will be readable. At worst you will need to take ownership of some folders if the previous drive was also in the NTFS format.
If the old drive cam from a windows system then they will be readable. At worst you will need to take ownership of some folders if the previous drive was also in the NTFS format.