I have being trying Ghost with a couple of computers, Both running XP/Pro. I made my backup by "cloning" the drive and also checking the copy/create MBR option, not copying the drive. I was able to restore the drive, as needed. I also tried replacing the clone with the master and it worked.
I have tried both Ghost 9.0 and Ghost 2003. The menus are a little different, but what you want to try is the clone feature, which can be found on the side bar in one version and in the advanced section in the other version. Sorry, I don't have the systems near me at this time to provide the exact procedure.