One thing I found useful was to build the system to a 'perfect' original state. Format/install Windows install all updates and service packs and maybe essential base apps, then Ghost the system. At least you will have a recovery disk to a 'perfect' updated base install. This could save a few hours anyway, rather than building totally from scratch.
The big [really HUGE] problem with Ghost these days is that you have to re-Ghost every time Microsoft posts a critical update.
Sometimes that's only once a month, but often it's once a week.
Not saying that you shouldn't Ghost, it's just that Ghosting is a helluva lot more work than it used to be.
And you can't automate Ghosting [vis-a-vis Critical Updates], because you need to play around with the new Critical Update for a while to see whether or not it broke anything important on your system [some of them will kill your video drivers, some will kill your disk drivers, some will kill your USB drivers - which is hell on wheels if you've got a USB keyboard and/or a USB mouse], and to decide whether or not you want to commit to the Critical Update permanently, or whether you want to un-install it and role your system back to a previous state.
Again, not at all fun for the professional [although it does put food on the table], but potentially overwhelming [in complexity, tediousness, and time consumption] for the amateur.