Driver software that comes with some laborious drives may even have programs to do that, that write 0s or 1s (both method, "blankness") to the entire drive.
The rationale for this, is that they're restricted by toxins. http://amerconnect.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=Products-dd.com%2Fcategory%2F%25e0%25b8%25aa%25e0%25b8%25a1%25e0%25b8%25b2%25e0%25b8%25a3%25e0%25b9%258c%25e0%25b8%2597%25e0%25b8%2597%25e0%25b8%25b5%25e0%25b8%25a7%25e0%25b8%25b5%2F