Formatting a corrupted SATA Drive

Hello,
I have several HDDs sitting around and the one in question came in my older HP/Compaq pc. I believe the data is corrupted on it, but really have no way of knowing (that i know of).

My question is if i can hook it up throught the normal SATA connections on my newer (working) computer to format it and take it back to yet another pc i have to reinstall windows?

when i try to re-install from the CDs boot menu it gives me some sort of error message, or wont recognise the hard drive.

This drive would also make a nice back up drive but i need to clear all the information off of it in order for it to work.

I've already tried plugging it up to the SATA port on the MOBO, but it is not detected.

Anything else i should be trying?