All hard drives are low-level formatted. if you buy a brand new hard drive they usually include tools for formatting you drive.
Low-level formatting really only needs to be once, and thats at the factory. It's different than formatting the drive to prepare it for a Operating System. Also, low-level formatting can void the warranty with the manufacturer. If your start to low level format your hardrive, and the power gets interrupted, you might have to toss the hard drive in the thrash.
Only in extremely rare circumstances should a user low-level format their drives. This is not something you will want to do each time you would install an OS. It can take a very long time also to low-level format the drive.
You should not need to buy these programs, they can usually be found on the manufacturer's website. Dont use a Maxtors utility on a Western Digitials drive either or vice-versa. Only use the utilitys from the drives manufacturers.