MTS file import: Audio not displaying

Hi there. I have a laptop that runs on Windows 10. No major issues with Premiere except that the laptop is old and runs slow. So yesterday I was excited to setup a new desktop that runs on Windows 11 thinking I would have a speedier experience with premiere. 

Here is my issue: (I actually have two issues but this is the biggest one.)  When I import an MTS file into Premiere on the new desktop, the audio portion of the file does not come in.  The settings under preferences are identical to what I have on my laptop. No sound. Nadda. 

It seems counter intuitive and inefficient that I would have to convert the files somewhere else to bring them into the spanking brand new version of Premiere on the Windows 11 desktop.

Another thing that is painful ( second issue) is that when I open an existing premiere file it finds files missing because I reorganized a drive. In the past the simple "locate.." has worked but now it looks like you have to select a file one by one to "link media" and then try to find the file and then hit "ok" which is tedious. 

Do anyone have insights into these two problems?