Odd startup sound & timer question

[JCL12]

Hey all, two quick questions:

-When I turn on my car (electronics only, not engine) I see a little oil lamp with a digital timer. The timer then counts down to 0 (sometimes from 5 seconds, sometimes from about 30) and once it hits 0, the oil lamp stops flashing and shows something that appears to be a full gauge. What is this and what is its point?

-One time when I turned on my car, I heard a fairly loud squealing noise which appear to come from the front of the car. It happened seconds after I turned my car on. (Car was in park). Any common causes of an odd loud-ish squeal? (not brakes!)