Like any other tool in the English language, passive voice has its uses. It is most effective for minimizing the role of the person performing an action, or for leaving out the actor altogether, when the action, and not the individual's identity, is the crucial point.

Still, "avoid the passive voice" seems to have been translated into "write in the active voice at all costs", with its own pitfalls. Here are some thoughts about two common situations that can arise from phobia of passive constructions.

Putting the Emphasis Where It Belongs
The creator of the sentence that follows was concerned not to use a passive verb in the lead-off clause of a sentence, but felt it appropriate to finish the sentence with one:

In your document, you have a picture that was created in Paintbrush, and you want to make sure that it is not edited.

The result is a sentence that gives equal weight to both clauses, even though the second clause contains the more important point. Furthermore, in the quest to name an actor, the first clause resorts to a weak verb. Finally, the passive voice at the end makes the chief point ambiguous. Do you want to prevent editing, or do you want to find out if editing has occurred?

To de-emphasize the first clause, bringing home the real point of the sentence, the writer should have led with the passive and finished with the active:

A certain object in your document was created in Paintbrush; you want to make sure that no one can edit it.

Similarly, consider this sentence:

By default, the Format dialog has Widows and Orphans Protection enabled.

The emphasis should be on the Widows and Orphans Protection, not the name of the dialog. Moreover, the verb "has" is weak. The sentence would be better if written as:

Widows and Orphans Protection is always enabled when the Format dialog first appears.

The important point is now up front, where it belongs.

False-Scenting Passives
After you make a correction to emphasis, someone may see a passive contruction where none exists. Consider the previous example:

Widows and Orphans Protection is always enabled when the Format dialog first appears.

A person with a less-than-solid grasp of grammar might take "is enabled" for a passive verb (where an unknown actor did the enabling), when the reality is that the active verb of being ("is") is followed by a predicate adjective ("enabled") describing the state of the Widows and Orphans Protection.