Mine has never done this - so can't comment on that.
On the start up sounds - used to use an app called 'silent boot' on my Desire.
Out of curiosity, just checked the play store to see if it was still there, and if there were any reviews from one x users. It was and there were two - one said it works great, the other said it didn't work at all!
There are some other similar ones there as well. May be worth testing a few as a stopgap.