[CentOS] how to stop an in-progress fsck that runs at boot?

I can't seem to find the answer to this question via web search... I
changed some hardware on a server, and upon powering it back on, got
the "/dev/xxx has gone 40 days without being check, check forced"
message.  Now it's running fsck on a huge (2 TB) ext3 filesystem (5400
RPM drives no less).  How can I stop this in-progress check?  Ctrl-C
doesn't seem to have any effect.  Is the only answer to wait it out?

Also, as a side question: I always do this---let my servers run for a
very long time, power down to change/upgrade hardware, then forget
about the forced fsck, then pull my hair out waiting for it to finish
(because I can't figure out how to stop it once it starts).  I know
about tune2fs -c and -i, and also the last (or is it second to last?)
column in /etc/fstab.  My question is more along the lines of "best
practices"---what are most people doing with regards to regular fsck's
of ext2/3/4 filesystems?  Do you just take the defaults, and let it
delay the boot process by however long it takes?  Disable it
completely?  Or do something like taking the filesystem offline on a
running system?  Something else?

Thanks,
Matt