Backing up multiple PCs to a single drive

My dad tasked me with backing up multiple computers to our 1 TB My Passport drive.

Is the software pre-loaded onto the drive able to handle multiple computers and their backups? Or shoud I copy the preload off, repartition the drive (one partition per computer) and copy the preload back on?

I am not worried about my PC, I already have a backup utility, but my I could not find a good one for windows XP, which is what my parents have on their PCs.’

If you have any other ideas, give me a heads up.

WD smartware can back up diff comps. However you need to check if the win xp comp is updated with at least windows xp sp3 and adobe flash player,java and microsoft .net framework is updated.

Windows xp also has its own back up software.

What versions of flash, java, and microsoft.net framework?