Your best chance at getting the info without the help of your friend is still pretty slim.
First off, you gotta know how your friend got the laptop. Did he get it from a FS/FT forum, or did he just buy it from "some guy he knew" or something.
Is your friend technically inclined enough to change all the registered names to his own?
If you right-click on my computer and go to properties, it will say the name of the person it is registred to. If the name there is not yours and not your friend's, then I'd be willing to bet that it's the original owner. If you or your friend's name is there, possibly the laptop was formatted, then you are pretty much up poo creek. More on that later, though.
Now, here's where it may get tricky. If your friend bought it off the internet, you'll need to look to see if something like heat or other feedback was left for it. Just search through your friend's heat and look for "bought item" and find the laptop. The person who is on the other end of the deal is who you need to contact. You should be able to get at least their email.
If that person is non-responsive, contact some of the people who left him heat and ask for his address. Tell them exactly what is going on, honesty is often rewarded. With the email, address and name, you are set.
NOW, if your friend got it from another friend, and you have a name, then you might know this friend or your friend may have told you how he met this person. If they met in high school, then you can probably check his name in a people search or the phone book (since it probably won't list him personally, you might have to make a few calls.) or if was a college or something, try checking the student directory. Most colleges release a student directory that is similar to a phone book, with all students phone numbers and email addresses (usually no mailing addresses, though.) this should give you enough of a lead to track the other person down.
If you don't have their name... you're going to have some work ahead of you. The simple fix which may not work is to email Dell and tell them what is going on and ask if they can transfer the warranty for you. They won't give you the person's contact info to do it on your own because of privacy reasons, but as long as it gets done, no issue at all. However, they might contact this person first to ensure that the laptop was not stolen or anything... who knows, I've never dealt with them before.
If Dell can't/won't help you, then you have even more work. Please note that some of this may be very underhanded and may get your in trouble, but it should be safe. You may try using an alternate email and emailing dell, requesting info on the warranty status. Say you lost access to your previous account, blah blah blah, perhaps the warranty status has the name of the person it is registered to. Then you're in luck, because you can use the afformentioned methods to track them down.
No dice? Try looking through any manuals and crap you have, see if there is a name on any correspondance or receipts that may have been included with the laptop. From this point, it's all a matter of just looking through what you have for names and looking up the name for contact info from various sources.
If all else fails, just smack your friend and tell him that he's a lazy POS and he needs to stop being such a Fvck.
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