Your friend's dishwasher was probably a GE. Very common.

One thing I would do is pour about a gallon of water in the tub before turning the dishwasher on. Some of the water will end up inside the pump, hopefully lubricating the impeller seal somewhat. That seal is what would usually crack after a long period of non usage. The seal is number 23 on this diagram Pump and motor parts replacement parts for WHIRLPOOL GU1200XTLB0 UNDERCOUNTER DISHWASHER | AppliancePartsPros.com You don't want to run a dishwasher dry.

This is how I would do it:
- Visually inspect all the hoses. Replace if bad.
- Connect the dishwasher properly (water, drain, then power).
- Pour about a gallon of water inside the dishwasher tub.
- Remove the bottom kick panel.
- Start the dishwasher. You want to make sure that the fill cycle is working and your dishwasher is getting water. Your dishwasher will first go in to drain cycle and will drain most of the water you had poured in it, leaving some inside the pump. Next, after about 30 seconds, it will go in to fill cycle. Make sure your dishwasher is filling with water. You will hear a hissing sound if it is. You can also open the door slowly for visual inspection. If the dishwasher is not filling with water, turn it off. You'd want to take care of this issue first (probably a bad water valve - a cheap and easy repair). If it is filling with water, keep it going while paying attention to any water leaks around the pump area (the kick panel was removed so that you can see in there).

If you spot a leak, most likely the seal I mentioned earlier is cracked. You have three options at this point:

1. Replace the seal (comes with either #23 or #22 impeller kit; I'd get #22, the price is almost the same) - this is a cheap job that will probably take about two hours.

2. Replace the whole pump/motor assembly. Somewhat expensive, but will take less time since you don't have to rebuild the old pump (option 1).

3. Buy a new dishwasher.

Hopefully this answers your questions. Let us know how it goes.