I'm trying to format my usb pendrive with one of those low level options like Gutmann, DoD or filling with zeros to wipe all data.
I used Active DVD tools on Windows XP SP3 for years, but I always had the problem that happened after formating my pendrives they were not recognized by the OS and asked me to format again using Windows tool, which I did for FAT32 and hopefully they could be used again.
However a while ago I tried to do the same for an old pendrive on Windows 7 but the software freezed and rendered the drive unusable. Needless to mention that such drive was working just fine, but it seemed the software did satured the chip or overused during the process as it felt hot on contact after the attempt.
After such experience I'm looking for other options which could be safer, cover all the basics and be less consuming of resources i.e RAM, CPU and so on. Therefore, is there any recommendation on an utility which can do low level format and then format exFat, FAT32 or NTFS and creating a partition preferably open source or any at a reasonable cost and good reputation?
On my own I did a quick search and it gave me Eraser (which I'm not sure if it is a format utility) and Rufus which some user has complained about making unusable some of his pendrives. But since I have no experience with these can somebody recommend other tools? If possible one which do offers some graphic user interfase or an easy to use or to understand command line.
The program I'm looking for must be compatible with x86 technology and 32-bit as this is the one I'm using.
As long it works on 32-bit Windows from 7 to onwards is fine. It does not matter if its free. Although open source or free could be preferred. Regarding budget the cost should be reasonable, maybe over 200 usd is too much.