Hi,

I had to reistall my windows OS, as a result I lost all my website files.

Can I use the HTML Editor to download my website so I can continue working on it?

If so, what are the files I need? Do I need to download every file/folder in the www.mywebsite.com/public_html directory?

Thank you

That would be a good idea. That way you have all the files. Use Direct FTP by CoffeeCup.

So, what is the difference in the files in the public_html vs home/public_html??

On Unix-like servers, each user has a home directory. I'd bet both directories are valid to Apache. Your hosting provider will provide you better a better explanation.