diff --git a/cmds.go b/cmds.go
index 9f5b6b6..d0a4675 100644
--- a/cmds.go
+++ b/cmds.go
@@ -17,6 +17,22 @@ import (
 
 // Initialize the boot2docker VM from scratch.
 func cmdInit() error {
+	B2D.Init = false
+	_, err := driver.GetMachine(&B2D)
+	if err == nil {
+		fmt.Printf("Virtual machine %s already exists\n", B2D.VM)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if _, err := os.Stat(B2D.ISO); err != nil {
+		if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Failed to open ISO image %q: %s", B2D.ISO, err)
+		}
+
+		if err := cmdDownload(); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
 
 	if _, err := os.Stat(B2D.SSHKey); err != nil {
 		if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
@@ -24,23 +40,22 @@ func cmdInit() error {
 		}
 
 		cmd := exec.Command(B2D.SSHGen, "-t", "rsa", "-N", "", "-f", B2D.SSHKey)
+		cmd.Stdin = os.Stdin
+		cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+		cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
 		if B2D.Verbose {
 			cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
-			fmt.Printf("executing: %v %v", cmd.Path, strings.Join(cmd.Args, " "))
+			fmt.Printf("executing: %v %v\n", cmd.Path, strings.Join(cmd.Args, " "))
 		}
-		b, err := cmd.Output()
-		if err != nil {
+
+		if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("Error generating new SSH Key into %s: %s", B2D.SSHKey, err)
 		}
-		out := string(b)
-		if B2D.Verbose {
-			fmt.Printf("%s returned: %s\nEND\n", B2D.SSHKey, out)
-		}
 	}
 	//TODO: print a ~/.ssh/config entry for our b2d connection that the user can c&p
 
 	B2D.Init = true
-	_, err := driver.GetMachine(&B2D)
+	_, err = driver.GetMachine(&B2D)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Failed to initialize machine %q: %s", B2D.VM, err)
 	}
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index e44a4a5..0a45b13 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -121,7 +121,12 @@ func config() (*flag.FlagSet, error) {
 	B2D.Dir = dir
 	flags.StringVar(&B2D.ISO, "iso", filepath.Join(dir, "boot2docker.iso"), "path to boot2docker ISO image.")
 
-	flags.BoolVarP(&B2D.Init, "init", "i", false, "auto initialize vm instance.")
+	// Sven disabled this, as it is broken - if I user with a fresh computer downloads
+	// just the boot2docker-cli, and then runs `boot2docker --init ip`, we create a vm
+	// which cannot run, because it fails to have have the boot2docker.iso and the ssh keys
+	B2D.Init = false
+	//flags.BoolVarP(&B2D.Init, "init", "i", false, "auto initialize vm instance.")
+
 	flags.StringVar(&B2D.SSH, "ssh", "ssh", "path to SSH client utility.")
 	flags.StringVar(&B2D.SSHGen, "ssh-keygen", "ssh-keygen", "path to ssh-keygen utility.")
 
diff --git a/virtualbox/machine.go b/virtualbox/machine.go
index 7171bd0..183a37d 100644
--- a/virtualbox/machine.go
+++ b/virtualbox/machine.go
@@ -503,6 +503,10 @@ func CreateMachine(mc *driver.MachineConfig) (*Machine, error) {
 			if err := makeDiskImage(diskImg, mc.DiskSize, buf.Bytes()); err != nil {
 				return m, err
 			}
+			if verbose {
+				fmt.Println("Initializing disk with ssh keys")
+				fmt.Printf("WRITING: %s\n-----\n", buf)
+			}
 		}
 	}