IDG Contributor Network: Disable Mac startup sound in OS X

One of the the things that I dislike about my iMac is how it makes that loud, annoying sound when I first boot it up. You probably know the sound I'm talking about, it's not necessary for your Mac to boot up but Apple insists on having it play anyway. And if you've left the volume up on your Mac when you shut it down, the startup sound can be incredibly loud and irritating.Unfortunately, there's no way in the OS X interface to turn the sound off. For some unknown reason, Apple still hasn't provi