Well... no... at least not with software utilities. There are "de-magnetisers" machines (degausser) that are used for disabling drives that have contained top-secret data, and these cost a bundle. However, only using software, you can only have the drive read or write data. The drive heads cannot just "scatter magnetic charges"... how would a head that is designed to read and write individual bits (in block), ie precisely, be able to do that?. Besides, if it were the case, the drive would either need a low level format after that or be filled with bad clusters, ie: be just plain dead.
Here's an extract of DoD 5220.22-M shredding guidlines:
(http://www.dss.mil/isec/chapter8.htm)
Also, a comparaison of software "shredders" can be found here:a. Degauss with a Type I degausser
b. Degauss with a Type II degausser.
c. Overwrite all addressable locations with a single character.
d. Overwrite all addressable locations with a character, its complement, then a random character and verify. THIS METHOD IS NOT APPROVED FOR SANITIZING MEDIA THAT CONTAINS TOP SECRET INFORMATION.
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscrape..._Shredders.htm
(Check the "Overwrite algorithm" row for wiping technique)
Ammo
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