answer: The cables that come with them are PATHETICALLY SHORT
paragraph_question: question: What about cable?, context: Yes, there is always a 'but'.  I bought 3 of these drives mainly because I was getting tired of using external hard drives that required their own power supply, and like the idea of a portable, USB powered backup.I've had WD drives before and not experienced any issues with them (I've got a couple of their 'powered' drives).  But these little buggers have been frustrating!ALL 3 WORK independently.  No issues there.  The trouble begins when you try to daisy chain and use more than one at a time!  A single 2TB drive was not going to be enough, so the plan was to link these together using a powered hub.My system:  HP 19" laptop, running windows 7, 64 bit.  4 GB RAMHow I prepared and set up the drives:1 - The drives are ready to go out of the box.  The cables that come with them are PATHETICALLY SHORT.  About a foot long.2 - For each drive, I plugged them in one at a time and went into the properties to give them a unique drive name as to not confuse the computer, and keep them straight in windows explorer.  To keep it easy, I named them "My Passport 1", "My Passport 2", and "My Passport 3".  (I get the same problem I am about to describe if I have spaces in the name, or not)3 - To link them together, I made use of the following:a - HDE 2 Port USB 3.0 54mm Express CardB0046XUMDWb - Anker USB 3.0 7-Port Hub with 36W Power AdapterB006TT91TWc - AmazonBasics USB 3.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension CableB008EQYRRY4 - I tested the cable (3c Above) first by plugging each drive into the female end, and the male end into the express card (3a above).  the drive spun up, computer recognized it with no issues.  All 3 drives checked out OK.5 - I then tested the powered hub (3b above).  Plugged it into the Express Card (3a above) directly, the other end into an outlet.  I plugged in each drive one at a time (tested individually)... no issues.  all drives recognized.6 - next, I tested the hub WITH the cable.  I plugged the cable (3c) into the express card (3a), then the Hub (3b) into the cable (3c), AC adapter into the outlet.  The PC recognized the hub with no issues.This is where it gets puzzling:7 - I plugged "My Passport 1" into the Hub (3b).  Little blue light on the hub came on.  The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, and windows explorer opened showing the new drive, and it appeared as 'My Passport 1" in the directory tree.  could access the drive with no issues.8 - I plugged "My Passport 2" into the Hub (3b).  Little blue light on the hub came on.  The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, and windows explorer opened showing the new drive, and it appeared as 'My Passport 2" in the directory tree.  could access the drive with no issues.9 - I plugged "My Passport 3" into the Hub (3b).  Little blue light on the hub came on.  The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, AND THAT WAS IT.  windows explorer would not see the 3rd drive, yet the computer must, because you get the audio tone as you did with the first 2.  I clicked on the properties for the drivers; on 'manage'; checked in 'device manager' - no way on earth to get to the 3rd drive.  yet you can pick it up and feel it is running.I installed the software that came with the hub, rebooted after installing each drive, nothing seems to work.10 - I ruled out a bad drive by repeating the procedures above, but changing the order of the drives being connected to the hub.  I started with 'my passport 3' - fired up, recognized no problems (yet in #9 - the computer would see it based on the sound, but that was it).  plugged in 'my passport 1'.  it also fired up, computer recognized - windows explorer opened - good to go.  plugged 'my passport 2' into the hub, behavior was similar to #9.things I have not tried yet:  2 drives in the Express card and one drive into the onboard USB2 port, but what sense would THAT make?  all 3 USB 3.0 drives will boot individually with the hub, but no more than 2 of them.ANYONE else had this problem or have a solution?  you should be able to plug all 3 drives into the 7 port hub with no issues.  I can plug 2 drives into the hub, and then plug an older USB 2.0 drive into the hub, 2 thumbnail drives - all work in harmony.  but 3 WD 2TB drives?  haven't figured that one out yet 
sentence:  The cables that come with them are PATHETICALLY SHORT .
paragraph: Yes, there is always a 'but'.  I bought 3 of these drives mainly because I was getting tired of using external hard drives that required their own power supply, and like the idea of a portable, USB powered backup.I've had WD drives before and not experienced any issues with them (I've got a couple of their 'powered' drives).  But these little buggers have been frustrating!ALL 3 WORK independently.  No issues there.  The trouble begins when you try to daisy chain and use more than one at a time!  A single 2TB drive was not going to be enough, so the plan was to link these together using a powered hub.My system:  HP 19" laptop, running windows 7, 64 bit.  4 GB RAMHow I prepared and set up the drives:1 - The drives are ready to go out of the box.  The cables that come with them are PATHETICALLY SHORT.  About a foot long.2 - For each drive, I plugged them in one at a time and went into the properties to give them a unique drive name as to not confuse the computer, and keep them straight in windows explorer.  To keep it easy, I named them "My Passport 1", "My Passport 2", and "My Passport 3".  (I get the same problem I am about to describe if I have spaces in the name, or not)3 - To link them together, I made use of the following:a - HDE 2 Port USB 3.0 54mm Express CardB0046XUMDWb - Anker USB 3.0 7-Port Hub with 36W Power AdapterB006TT91TWc - AmazonBasics USB 3.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension CableB008EQYRRY4 - I tested the cable (3c Above) first by plugging each drive into the female end, and the male end into the express card (3a above).  the drive spun up, computer recognized it with no issues.  All 3 drives checked out OK.5 - I then tested the powered hub (3b above).  Plugged it into the Express Card (3a above) directly, the other end into an outlet.  I plugged in each drive one at a time (tested individually)... no issues.  all drives recognized.6 - next, I tested the hub WITH the cable.  I plugged the cable (3c) into the express card (3a), then the Hub (3b) into the cable (3c), AC adapter into the outlet.  The PC recognized the hub with no issues.This is where it gets puzzling:7 - I plugged "My Passport 1" into the Hub (3b).  Little blue light on the hub came on.  The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, and windows explorer opened showing the new drive, and it appeared as 'My Passport 1" in the directory tree.  could access the drive with no issues.8 - I plugged "My Passport 2" into the Hub (3b).  Little blue light on the hub came on.  The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, and windows explorer opened showing the new drive, and it appeared as 'My Passport 2" in the directory tree.  could access the drive with no issues.9 - I plugged "My Passport 3" into the Hub (3b).  Little blue light on the hub came on.  The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, AND THAT WAS IT.  windows explorer would not see the 3rd drive, yet the computer must, because you get the audio tone as you did with the first 2.  I clicked on the properties for the drivers; on 'manage'; checked in 'device manager' - no way on earth to get to the 3rd drive.  yet you can pick it up and feel it is running.I installed the software that came with the hub, rebooted after installing each drive, nothing seems to work.10 - I ruled out a bad drive by repeating the procedures above, but changing the order of the drives being connected to the hub.  I started with 'my passport 3' - fired up, recognized no problems (yet in #9 - the computer would see it based on the sound, but that was it).  plugged in 'my passport 1'.  it also fired up, computer recognized - windows explorer opened - good to go.  plugged 'my passport 2' into the hub, behavior was similar to #9.things I have not tried yet:  2 drives in the Express card and one drive into the onboard USB2 port, but what sense would THAT make?  all 3 USB 3.0 drives will boot individually with the hub, but no more than 2 of them.ANYONE else had this problem or have a solution?  you should be able to plug all 3 drives into the 7 port hub with no issues.  I can plug 2 drives into the hub, and then plug an older USB 2.0 drive into the hub, 2 thumbnail drives - all work in harmony.  but 3 WD 2TB drives?  haven't figured that one out yet 
sentence_answer:  <hl> The cables that come with them are PATHETICALLY SHORT <hl> .
paragraph_answer: Yes, there is always a 'but'. I bought 3 of these drives mainly because I was getting tired of using external hard drives that required their own power supply, and like the idea of a portable, USB powered backup.I've had WD drives before and not experienced any issues with them (I've got a couple of their 'powered' drives). But these little buggers have been frustrating!ALL 3 WORK independently. No issues there. The trouble begins when you try to daisy chain and use more than one at a time! A single 2TB drive was not going to be enough, so the plan was to link these together using a powered hub.My system: HP 19" laptop, running windows 7, 64 bit. 4 GB RAMHow I prepared and set up the drives:1 - The drives are ready to go out of the box. <hl> The cables that come with them are PATHETICALLY SHORT <hl>. About a foot long.2 - For each drive, I plugged them in one at a time and went into the properties to give them a unique drive name as to not confuse the computer, and keep them straight in windows explorer. To keep it easy, I named them "My Passport 1", "My Passport 2", and "My Passport 3". (I get the same problem I am about to describe if I have spaces in the name, or not)3 - To link them together, I made use of the following:a - HDE 2 Port USB 3.0 54mm Express CardB0046XUMDWb - Anker USB 3.0 7-Port Hub with 36W Power AdapterB006TT91TWc - AmazonBasics USB 3.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension CableB008EQYRRY4 - I tested the cable (3c Above) first by plugging each drive into the female end, and the male end into the express card (3a above). the drive spun up, computer recognized it with no issues. All 3 drives checked out OK.5 - I then tested the powered hub (3b above). Plugged it into the Express Card (3a above) directly, the other end into an outlet. I plugged in each drive one at a time (tested individually)... no issues. all drives recognized.6 - next, I tested the hub WITH the cable. I plugged the cable (3c) into the express card (3a), then the Hub (3b) into the cable (3c), AC adapter into the outlet. The PC recognized the hub with no issues.This is where it gets puzzling:7 - I plugged "My Passport 1" into the Hub (3b). Little blue light on the hub came on. The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, and windows explorer opened showing the new drive, and it appeared as 'My Passport 1" in the directory tree. could access the drive with no issues.8 - I plugged "My Passport 2" into the Hub (3b). Little blue light on the hub came on. The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, and windows explorer opened showing the new drive, and it appeared as 'My Passport 2" in the directory tree. could access the drive with no issues.9 - I plugged "My Passport 3" into the Hub (3b). Little blue light on the hub came on. The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, AND THAT WAS IT. windows explorer would not see the 3rd drive, yet the computer must, because you get the audio tone as you did with the first 2. I clicked on the properties for the drivers; on 'manage'; checked in 'device manager' - no way on earth to get to the 3rd drive. yet you can pick it up and feel it is running.I installed the software that came with the hub, rebooted after installing each drive, nothing seems to work.10 - I ruled out a bad drive by repeating the procedures above, but changing the order of the drives being connected to the hub. I started with 'my passport 3' - fired up, recognized no problems (yet in #9 - the computer would see it based on the sound, but that was it). plugged in 'my passport 1'. it also fired up, computer recognized - windows explorer opened - good to go. plugged 'my passport 2' into the hub, behavior was similar to #9.things I have not tried yet: 2 drives in the Express card and one drive into the onboard USB2 port, but what sense would THAT make? all 3 USB 3.0 drives will boot individually with the hub, but no more than 2 of them.ANYONE else had this problem or have a solution? you should be able to plug all 3 drives into the 7 port hub with no issues. I can plug 2 drives into the hub, and then plug an older USB 2.0 drive into the hub, 2 thumbnail drives - all work in harmony. but 3 WD 2TB drives? haven't figured that one out yet 
paragraph_sentence: Yes, there is always a 'but'. I bought 3 of these drives mainly because I was getting tired of using external hard drives that required their own power supply, and like the idea of a portable, USB powered backup. I've had WD drives before and not experienced any issues with them (I've got a couple of their 'powered' drives). But these little buggers have been frustrating!ALL 3 WORK independently. No issues there. The trouble begins when you try to daisy chain and use more than one at a time! A single 2TB drive was not going to be enough, so the plan was to link these together using a powered hub. My system: HP 19" laptop, running windows 7, 64 bit. 4 GB RAMHow I prepared and set up the drives:1 - The drives are ready to go out of the box. <hl> The cables that come with them are PATHETICALLY SHORT . <hl> About a foot long.2 - For each drive, I plugged them in one at a time and went into the properties to give them a unique drive name as to not confuse the computer, and keep them straight in windows explorer. To keep it easy, I named them "My Passport 1", "My Passport 2", and "My Passport 3". (I get the same problem I am about to describe if I have spaces in the name, or not)3 - To link them together, I made use of the following:a - HDE 2 Port USB 3.0 54mm Express CardB0046XUMDWb - Anker USB 3.0 7-Port Hub with 36W Power AdapterB006TT91TWc - AmazonBasics USB 3.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension CableB008EQYRRY4 - I tested the cable (3c Above) first by plugging each drive into the female end, and the male end into the express card (3a above). the drive spun up, computer recognized it with no issues. All 3 drives checked out OK.5 - I then tested the powered hub (3b above). Plugged it into the Express Card (3a above) directly, the other end into an outlet. I plugged in each drive one at a time (tested individually)... no issues. all drives recognized.6 - next, I tested the hub WITH the cable. I plugged the cable (3c) into the express card (3a), then the Hub (3b) into the cable (3c), AC adapter into the outlet. The PC recognized the hub with no issues. This is where it gets puzzling:7 - I plugged "My Passport 1" into the Hub (3b). Little blue light on the hub came on. The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, and windows explorer opened showing the new drive, and it appeared as 'My Passport 1" in the directory tree. could access the drive with no issues.8 - I plugged "My Passport 2" into the Hub (3b). Little blue light on the hub came on. The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, and windows explorer opened showing the new drive, and it appeared as 'My Passport 2" in the directory tree. could access the drive with no issues.9 - I plugged "My Passport 3" into the Hub (3b). Little blue light on the hub came on. The hard drive started to flicker, computer made the 'discovery' sound, AND THAT WAS IT. windows explorer would not see the 3rd drive, yet the computer must, because you get the audio tone as you did with the first 2. I clicked on the properties for the drivers; on 'manage'; checked in 'device manager' - no way on earth to get to the 3rd drive. yet you can pick it up and feel it is running. I installed the software that came with the hub, rebooted after installing each drive, nothing seems to work.10 - I ruled out a bad drive by repeating the procedures above, but changing the order of the drives being connected to the hub. I started with 'my passport 3' - fired up, recognized no problems (yet in #9 - the computer would see it based on the sound, but that was it). plugged in 'my passport 1'. it also fired up, computer recognized - windows explorer opened - good to go. plugged 'my passport 2' into the hub, behavior was similar to #9.things I have not tried yet: 2 drives in the Express card and one drive into the onboard USB2 port, but what sense would THAT make? all 3 USB 3.0 drives will boot individually with the hub, but no more than 2 of them. ANYONE else had this problem or have a solution? you should be able to plug all 3 drives into the 7 port hub with no issues. I can plug 2 drives into the hub, and then plug an older USB 2.0 drive into the hub, 2 thumbnail drives - all work in harmony. but 3 WD 2TB drives? haven't figured that one out yet