Can I reformat the WD external

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for Windows
1

QUESTION:

Can I reformat the WD external drive and install other backup software such as Dell or Windows backup and will they be able to use the WD as it might any other drive or is the WD drive proprietary and married to it’s own software?

WHY? Well…
My computer began to restart at random times.
Event logs didn’t show cause, only that unexpected shutdown was detected.

I replaced the CPU/GPU/power fans. Didn’t help.
Replaced the power supply. Didn’t help.
Tried different mice, keyboards and monitors. Didn’t help
After a full factory reset, hours of patches and fixes, and re-installing printer - without WD installed, comp ran for 21 hours - no problems.
Re-installed WD Backup, and restarts began again within the hour.
All the WD backup fixes and patches were applied.
Uninstalled backup then removed WD drive. Problem solved.
It hasn’t restarted on it’s own since removing/uninstalling WD My Passport Ultra and software.

MY COMPUTER O/S Windows 7 Pro
Dell Inspiron 560
WD = My Passport Ultra
P/N WDBGPU0010BBY-05 4515B R/N: D8B ABABFA

QUESTION:

Can I reformat the WD external drive and install other backup software such as Dell or Windows backup and will they be able to use the WD as it might any other drive or is the WD drive proprietary and married to it’s own software?

Thank you very much for taking the time to review and respond. I appreciate it - really!
.s.

2

Yes, its yours to freely do whatever you want. you wont break it, if anything you wil learn how to fix it. good luck. also dont use wd software all of it useless. Upgrade to windows 10 pro, your copy of windows allows this, win 10 has backup built into the OS. Hourly backups to wherever you want. I suggest you upgrade and let us know how it goes,