how can a plugin generate an error even when it is disabled?

[actolearn]

hello,

i am running vbulletin 3.8.7 and have a few plugins that are no longer supported installed. so i'm dealing with some old technology here, which i know is the problem.

anyway, i am seeing the following error on my site:

Site error: the file /home/informed/public_html/plugins/advertise_plugins.php requires the ionCube PHP Loader ioncube_loader_lin_5.2.so to be installed by the site administrator.

i have php 5.2 installed, and i have ioncube installed. i tried referencing it in the .htaccess file and the php.ini file, but to no avail. i also tried disabling all the plugins associated with the vbadvertise product (via an SQL query), and i still get the error. i found that to be most strange.

any ideas here? my site is down so i'm getting anxious.